SK 405 
.04 
1918 
Copy 1 



CONSERVATION LAWS 
OF MARYLAND 



RELATING TO 



WILD FOWL, BIRDS, GAME 
and FISH 




1918 



PUBLISHED BY 
CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF MARYLAND 



CONSERVATION LAWS 
OF MARYLAND 



RELATING TO 

WILD FOWL, BIRDS, GAME 
and FISH 




918 



PUBLISHED BY 
CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF MARYLAND 



GAME DEPARTMENT, 

Office: 

512 Munsey Building. Baltimore, Md. 

E. Lee LeCompte, 
Telephones: State Game Warden. 

St. Paul 7258. Talbott Denmead, 

St. Paul 7259. Chief Deputy Warden. 



DISTRICT DEPUTY WARDENS. 

Name Post Office District 

Richard S. Browning. .Oakland Garrett, Allegany and 

Washington. 1st 

Louis C. Etchison. . . . Jefferson Frederick, Carroll and 

Howard. 2nd 

Thomas L. Lechlider. .Silver Spring. Montgomery, Prince 

George's and Anne 
Arundel below 
Severn. 3rd 

Arthur B. Bateman'. . .Mt. Victoria. .Charles, St. Mary's 

and Calvert. 4th 

William A. Warns Bel Air Baltimore City, Balti- 
more, Harford and 
Anne Aiomdel above 
the Severn. 5th 

John Anderson Cecilton Cecil, Kent and Queen 

Anne's. 6th 

James Temple Denton Talbot, Caroline and 

. Dorchester. 7th 

Wade H. Bedsworth. . .Wetipquin . . .Wicomico, Worcester 

and Somerset. 8th 



., fl * °* b. 
" w -Hi fti. 






TABLE OF CONTENTS 



This pamphlet is published by the Game Department of the Con- 
servation Commission of Maryland with the hope that we may have 
your co-operation in the enforcement of all the conservation laws 
of the State, especially those State and local laws relating to hunt- 
ing licenses and closed seasons. 

With a State-wide license system-, a State-wide open season on 
iipland game, a State-wide ducking law and a State-wide Bag Limit, 
there is now no excuse for violating the Game Laws of Maryland, 
and all public-spirited citizens are earnestly requested to use their 
power and influence in having these statutes strictly obeyed. 

This pamphlet contains not only the State-wide laws, but also a 
resume of the more important local game laws now in force in the 
various counties. 



Page 

Part 1. — State-wide Game Laics 5 

Wild Water Fowl 5-11 

Upland Game 11-14 

Song and Insectivorous 14-16 

Night shooting, trapping ferrets, poison. 

etc 16-18 

Bag Limit 18-19 

Game Wardens 20-23, 25 

Eight to search 23 

Sale of confiscated game 24 

Otter, raccoon and muskrat 26 

Export of game 26 

State-wide hunting license 27-31 

Game pens 31 

State-wide dog law 32 

Part 2. — State-wide Fish Laws 34 

Head of bay 34 

Patapsco 37 

Severn River 37 



Page. 

Patuxent River 37 

Potomac 

Trout and other fish 48 

Chesapeake Bay 56 

Terrapin 61 

I> ART 3— Local Garni arid Fish Lairs 63 

Arranged according to counties in alphabetical order 
beginning page 63, Allegany county, etc. 

Allegany ( !ounty 63 

Anne Arundel ( iounty 66 

Baltimore County 69 

( Jaroline ( 'ounty 73 

( 'ceil County 74 

Calvert County 76-97 

( 'harles ( founty 76 

Carroll County 77-86 

1 >orchester County 78 

Frederick County 83-86 

< iar.rett County 86 

Harford County 87 

Kent County 91 

Queen Anne's County . 93 

.Montgomery County 94 

Prince George County 95 

Patuxent River 96-98 

Somerset County ■ 98 

Mary 's County 99, 97 

Talbot County 99,73 

Washington County 102 

Wicomico County 103 

Worcester County 104, 98 



Pakt 1. 

STATE-WIDE GAME LAWS 

WILD WATER FOWL. 

(Maryland Code, Article 99.) 

2. Limits of Blinds. No person shall at any time, in, 
on, or over the waters of the State, shoot at or shoot any 
water fowl from any booby-blind, or artificial point erected 
at a greater distance than one hundred yards from the 
natural shore from which the same may be extended. 

4. Penalty. If any person shall violate any of the 
provisions of the three preceding sections, he shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall pay a fine of 
not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars, to 
be recovered by action of debt in the name of the State 
before a justice of the peace of the county where the 
offense is committed, or by indictment in the circuit court 
for said county. 

6. Arrests. Any officer of the State Fishery Force, 
sheriff, constable or commissioned militia officer of the 
county wherein the provisions of this article relating to 
water fowl may be violated, who shall be satisfied either 
upon his own view or information received of any other 
person, whether on oath or not, that any one has violated 
the said provisions, is authorized and empowered to arrest 
and take into custody such person so offending, and the 
boatman or other persons found on board of the vessel, 
boat, float, canoe, or craft employed to convey such 
offender for the purpose of shooting at or killing wild 
ducks or wild fowl of any description contrary to the pro- 
visions of this article, and shall seize and take into his 
possession the said vessel, boat, float, canoe, or craft, and 
the gun or guns, ammunition and decoy ducks in the same 
or in the use or possession of the offender or offenders. 



NOTE. — As to Sections 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 11, see Section 13, which 
supersedes all these sections. 



13. Shooting from Boat; Special Provisions; Acts 
1916, Chapter 542. It shall be unlawful to purposely or 
unnecessarily disturb in the waters of this State, or to 
pursue, kill or shoot at any wild fowl in or from any boat 
of any description within the limits of the State of Mary- 
land, or to pursue, shoot or gather any wounded or dead 
ducks, geese, swan or brant in any boat propelled by or 
equipped with sail or engines of any kind within the said 
limits. 

And it shall be unlawful for the owner or owners of 
any boat propelled by or equipped with sail or engines of 
any kind, or of any share or interest in such boat, to use 
or permit the use of such boat for any of the acts above 
prohibited, or to loan or hire such boat at any time be- 
tween the 15th day of October of any year and the 1st 
day of April in the then next ensuing year, to any person 
or persons without making due inquiry into the purpose of 
those applying for the use of such boat and becoming sat- 
isfied that those applying for the use of such boat intend to 
use the same exclusively for other purposes than the viola- 
tions of the provisions of this act, and that such persons 
are not equipped with and do not place in such boats any 
guns or ammunition suitable for shooting wild fowl. 

Each and every person on board of any boat by or from 
which wild fowl shall be unnecessarily disturbed or in 
which wild fowl shall be pursued, or from which wild fowl 
shall be shot at in violation of the provisions of this sec- 
tion, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
conviction thereof each person convicted shall be fined not 
less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred 
dollars for each offense, and in the event of the non- 
payment of the fine, the person or persons so convicted shall 
stand committed to the county jail or the jail of Baltimore 
City until such fine and costs are paid, but such imprison- 
ment shall not exceed sixty days for each offense, and in 
addition to such fine or fines all boats used by said offenders 
and the guns and paraphernalia found in or on such boats 
or in possession of such persons so convicted, or used in 
such violation of the provisions of this section, shall be ad- 
judged confiscated and ordered to be sold and conveyed by 



the officer making the arrest or sheriff of the City or 
county wherein the conviction shall be had. After deduct- 
ing the cost of the arrests and trials of the persons so 
convicted, and of the custody, sale and conveyance of said 
boats, guns and paraphernalia, one-half of the fine and 
proceeds of sale of the confiscated property shall go to the 
deputy game warden, constable or other person who shall 
procure the conviction of any persons for violating the 
provisions^ of this section, and the remaining half shall be 
paid to the State Treasurer to the account of the State 
Game Protection Fund, to be used by the State Game 
Warden as may be provided by law. 

If any such power boats or boats impelled by sail or 
engines of any description be found in or near the waters 
where wild fowl are then and there using or bedding, hav- 
ing on board guns or other paraphernalia commonly em- 
ployed in the killing of wild fowl, or if any shots shall be 
fired from any such boat at or in the vicinity of wild fowl 
where bedded in the waters aforesaid, or if any such boat 
propelled by engine or sail shall be proven to have moved 
in the direction of such wild fowl so bedded, for the pur- 
pose of causing such wild fowl to fly from the place or 
waters in which they shall have been then and there 
bedded, such fact or facts, or any of them, shall be accepted 
as prima facie evidence of an intentional violation of the 
provisions of this Section on the part of each person on 
board of such boat, and of the ownership of such boat and 
of the guns and paraphernalia thereon by the persons so 
convicted; provided, first, that nothing herein contained 
shall be deemed to prohibit the proper use of duly licensed 
and authorized sneak-boats for shooting wild fowl, or duly 
licensed and authorized push-boats, or to prevent the tow- 
ing of craft by power boats to and from the shooting 
grounds or to prevent shooting over or gathering wounded 
or dead wild fowl, in good faith, from boats propelled 
only by oars, and not equipped with either sails or engines, 
when so used within a reasonable distance from the shore ; 
and provided, second, that any person or persons other 
than those convicted of violating the provisions of this 
section who may own in part or whole any boat, gun or 



paraphernalia adjudged to be confiscated or ordered to be 
sold, as above provided, may intervene by sworn petition 
in the court of such conviction within ten days thereafter, 
and make claim to such boat or other property ; and upon 
affirmative proof to the satisfaction of the court of such 
ownership and of the further facts that such owner or 
owners were, after making due inquiry as above required, 
in fact without knowledge or notice of any kind, direct or 
indirect, in advance of the use made or intended to be 
made of such boat, guns or paraphernalia, and did not, 
directly or indirectly, participate therein or connive 
thereat, and did not, in person or by agent, loan or rent 
or permit the use of such boat, guns or paraphernalia to 
any person or persons who, to his or their knowledge or 
information, intended or were likely to violate the pro- 
visions of this section, or who had heretofore pursued wild 
fowl on the waters of this State in boats and did not in 
person or by agent or employee act upon such boat as the 
operator or navigator thereof, then and thereupon the 
said court shall strike out the judgment of confiscation 
as to so much of said boat, guns or paraphernalia as the 
court shall from the evidence affirmatively find belongs to 
such bona fide innocent owner, and shall order the sale 
only of the remaining share or shares and interest in said 
boat, guns and other paraphernalia; provided, that noth- 
ing herein contained shall apply to sink-boxes nor to motor- 
boats running with the wind while shooting over decoys, 
nor to retrieving or shooting wounded wild water fowl 
which have been wounded over decoys, if said sink-boxes 
and motor-boats running with the w r ind while gunning over 
decoys or retrieving ducks wounded or killed over decoys 
occurs northward of a line drawn east and west from 
Turkey Point, in Cecil County, and Locust Point, in Har- 
ford County. 

14. Closed Seasox for Wild Fowl.* It shall be unlaw- 
ful to shoot at or kill any duck, goose, swan or brant within 
the limits of the State of Maryland, between the 15th day 
of March and the first day of November in each and every 

JanuaryllstTnSve! 5611 SeaS ° n f ° r WUd F ° Wl ' November lst t0 



9 

year, and it shall further be unlawful to have in possession 
any such duck, goose, swan or brant between the 25th day 
of March and the first day of November in each and every 
year. Any person violating any of the provisions of this 
section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon 
conviction shall be fined not less than $25.00 nor more than 
$50.00 for each offense, and each duck, goose, swan or brant 
so shot at, killed or had in possession shall constitute a sepa- 
rate offense under this section; provided, however, that 
upon conviction the court or justice before whom such con- 
viction shall have been had may in its or his discretion im- 
pose a single fine for each day or part of a day in which 
such violation of this section occurred, such fine to be not 
less than $100.00 nor more than $250.00 for every such day 
or part of a day. Acts 1916, Chapter 568. 

15. Shooting on Sunday Prohibited. Other Restric- 
tions. It shall be unlawful to shoot any wild fowl on Sun- 
days throughout the year, and it shall be unlawful to net 
or trap ducks in any manner at any time during the year 
in the State of Maryland, or to employ dynamite in any 
manner whatsoever for the purpose of capturing or killing 
any species of wild fowl; and it shall further be unlawful 
in said State to shoot at or kill any wild duck, swan, goose 
or brant at any time or in any manner with a rifle, or to fire 
a rifle in and about places where wild duck, swan, goose or 
brant are congregated. Any person violating any of the 
provisons of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than 
twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars for each and 
every offense. 

16. Fishing; Susquehanna Flats. It shall be unlaw- 
ful to fish with nets or in any other manner on the Susque- 
hanna Flats or in the waters of Romney Creek, in Harford 
County, between the fifteenth day of October and the first 
day of April. That part of the Chesapeake Bay and tribu- 
taries shall be known as the Susquehanna Flats which is 
contained within the following metes and bounds : All that 
portion of the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries lying south 
of a line drawn east from Concord Light House, in Harford 
County, to Carpenters Point on the western shore of Cecil 



LO 

County, and north of a line beginning at the lighthouse on 
Turkey Point, in Cecil County, and drawn westerly to a 
point half a mile north of the northerly part of Spesutia 
Island; thence continuing said line still westward, but at 
no time approaching nearer than a half mile from the north- 
ern end of said Island and the adjacent mainland, until it 
reaches the Harford County shore at or near Oakington. 
Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall 
be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than 
fifty dollars. 

17. Shooting at Night Prohibited. It shall be unlaw- 
ful to shoot at or kill any wild fowl in the State of Mary- 
land at night time in any manner, whether from the shore 
or otherwise. Any person found violating the provisions 
of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and on conviction thereof shall pay a fine of not less than 
fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each 
and every offense, and if it shall be proved that any party 
charged with shooting at or killing wild fowl at night was 
at or about the place at which the shot was fired, and that 
such person had a gun in his possession on the night in 
question in the vicinity thereof, either reasonably prior to, 
at the time of or after the firing, such facts shall be deemed 
prima facie evidence of the violation of this section ; pro- 
vided, however, that it shall be lawful for any land owner 
or person having the permission of such owner to shoot 
and kill geese and swan at night on or from the shore of 
such owner. 

18. Size op Gun. No person shall at any time in this 
State shoot at or kill any duck, wild fowl, birds or game 
with big or swivel gun, or any gun other than such as 
can be easily raised to the shoulder and held horizontally 
at arm's length, and without a rest, and fired from that 
position by a person of ordinary strength and stature. 
Any person found violating the provisions of this section 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not 
less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hun- 
dred dollars for each and every offense, and every gun 
which cannot be habitually shot from the shoulder in the 



11 

manner above indicated shall be confiscated and destroyed. 
If any person is found with such a described gun in his 
possession in the vicinity of ducks, birds or game, it shall 
be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section. 

19. Jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace; Disposi- 
tion of Fines. Justices of the peace of Harford, Cecil, 
Kent and Baltimore Counties and Baltimore City shall 
have concurrent jurisdiction over all violations of the 
provisions of Sections 13 to 19 arising on the Chesapeake 
Bay and its tributaries north of a line drawn from the 
North Point Light to Tolchester Beaeh. 

Any person convicted under Sections 14, 15, 16, 17 or 
18, failing to pay his fine, the person so convicted shall 
stand 'committed to the county jail or the jail of Balti- 
more City until the fine and costs are paid, but such 
imprisonment shall not exceed sixty days for each offense. 
Any deputy game warden, constable or other person who 
shall procure the conviction of any person or persons vio- 
lating the provisions of Sections 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18 
shall receive one-half of the fine collected after the pay- 
ment of costs, and the remaining one-half shall be paid 
over to the State Treasurer to the account of the State 
Game Protection Fund, to be used by the State Game 
Warden as may be provided by law.* 



UPLAND GAME SEASONS. 

20. Closed Season. Partridge, Pheasant, Wild Tur- 
key Woodcock, Rabbit, Squirrel; Counties Exempt. 
No person shall shoot, trap, catch or kill, or gun or hunt 
for any partridge or quail, English or Mongolian pheas- 
ant (closed for a period of years in Dorchester, Balti- 
more, Wicomico and Harford Counties, see Local Laws) 
American pheasant, dark neck Bohemian pheasant, pheas- 
ant or ruffed grouse, rabbit, wild turkey, woodcock or deer 
within the State of Maryland between the twenty-fourth 
day of December and the tenth day of November in any 

♦Sections 13 to 19, inclusive, were passed in 1916, Chapter 542. 



12 

year, exclusive of both dates. Nor shall any person shoot, 
kill or hunt for any squirrel between the twenty-fourth 
day of December and the twenty-fifth day of August or 
between the first day of October and the tenth day of 
November in any year, both dales exclusive. (Anne Arun- 
del, Calvert. Charles, Prince George's, St. Mary's and 
Talbot Counties exempted as to squirrels. See table of 
open seasons on inside of back cover.) Nor upon Sunday or 
when the ground is sufficiently covered with snow to track 
the birds or game above mentioned. And there shall be 
a daily closed season on all the above enumerated game 
birds and game animals, with the exception of rabbits, be- 
tween sunsel and sunrise. t 

20-A. When Pheasants Excepted. Nothing in Section 
20 of this article shall prevent the propagation, raising or 
killing of domesticated, English or ring-necked pheasants 
where the said pheasants are hatched out and raised on 
the place where they are killed; provided, that said pheas- 
ants shall not be killed on grounds other than those owned 
by the breeders thereof, and nothing in this act shall per- 
mit the following of said pheasants beyond the boundaries 
thereof. Any person violating the provisions of this sec- 
tion shall be subject to the same penaltj T provided for 
violating Section -20. Acts 1914, Chapter'.")!)"). 

21. Penalties. Any person convicted, before any jus- 
tice of the peace of this State, for violating the preceding 
section (20) shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars 
nor more than one hundred dollars and costs for each and 
every offense. And any deputy game warden, constable or 
other persons who shall procure the conviction of any per- 
son or persons violating the provisions of the preceding 
section shall receive one-half of the fine collected, and the 
remaining one-half of the fine shall be paid over to the 
State Treasurer to be credited to the account of the State 
Game Protection Fund. Provided, that any person who 
fails to pay any fine so imposed shall be committed to jail 
for not less than twenty-five nor more than sixty days. 

fSquirrels in Dorchester County, September 1 to January 1. Up- 
,,',','' '/m'"", '" Rochester County, November 10 to January 1. Acts 
1918, ( hapter 11,. See also Acts 1918, Chapter 602 



13 

23. Closed Season; Doves. No person shall shoot or 
in any manner catch or kill in this State any doves between 
the twenty-fourth day of December and the fifteenth day 
of August following, under a penalty of not less than one 
dollar ($1) nor more than two dollars ($2) for each dove 
so shot, caught or killed. See Acts 1918, Chapter 439. 

24. Closed Season; Snipe and Plover.* No person 
shall shoot or in any manner catch or kill in this State any 
snipe or plover between the first day of May and the fif- 
teenth day of August in each and every year, under a 
penalty of not less than one dollar ($1) nor more than two 
dollars ($2) for each such bird so shot, caught or killed; 
provided, however, that this section shall not apply to 
Worcester County. 

25. Closed Season; Reedbird, Railbird, etc. No per- 
son shall shoot or in any manner catch or kill in this State 
any waterrail or ortolan or reedbird, railbird or ricebird 
between the first day of November and the first day of Sep- 
tember following, under a penalty of not less than one dol- 
lar ($1) nor more than two dollars ($2) for each such 
birds so shot, caught or killed. t 

27. Prohibits Possession or Sale of Birds or Game 
During Closed Seasons Throughout State. No person 
shall have in possession, expose for sale, sell or buy any 
of the aforesaid birds or game animals, alive or dead, in 
said City of Baltimore, or in any of the aforesaid respec- 
tive counties, during the aforesaid respective closed seasons 
or dates between which, in said city or counties, it is made 
unlawful, by the preceding sections of this sub-title, to 
shoot or have the same in possession, whether such birds 
or game animals so had in possession, exposed for sale, 
sold or bought, shall have been shot, or in any manner 
caught or killed in that county, or in any other county of 
this State, or in any other State, territory or country, 
under a penalty for the having in possession, exposing for 
sale, selling or buying of each such bird or game animal, 

* Federal laws fixes open season for Plover, August 16 to November 30, 
and for Snipe, November 1 to January 31. 

IFederal law fixes open season for reedbirds, September 1 to Oc- 
tober 31, and for railbirds, September 1 to November 30, inclusive. 



14 

similar in amount, respectively, to that hereinbefore made 
and provided for the illegal shooting or having in pos- 
session of the same, but nothing in this section or the pre- 
ceding sections contained shall be so construed as to pre- 
vent any person or corporation, from having in his or 
its possession, at any time, any live birds or game animals, 
for the purpose of stocking lands in this State. 



SONG AND INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 

28-A.* All wild birds other than game birds, both resi- 
dent and migratory, in this State, shall be and are hereby 
declared to be the property of the State. 

28-B. For the purposes of this act the following shall 
be considered game birds : Anatidae, or waterfowl, includ- 
ing brant, wild ducks, geese and swans ; Rallidae, or rails, 
including coots (mudhens), gallinules, sora and other rails; 
Limicolae, or shore birds, including woodcock, snipe, yellow- 
legs and plover ; Gallinae, including quail, partridges, ruffed 
grouse, wild turkeys, and pheasants; doves t ; reedbirds 
i rice birds or bobolinks) and blackbirds. All other species 
of wild resident or. migratory birds shall be considered non- 
game girds, t 

28-C. No person within the State shall kill, catch or have 
in his or their possession, living or dead, any resident or 
migratory wild bird other than a game bird, or purchase, 
offer or expose for sale, any such wild non-game bird, after 
it has been killed or caught, except as permitted by this act. 

28-D. No part of the plumage, skin or body of any bird 
protected by this act shall be sold or had in possession for 
sale, and this irrespective of whether said bird was cap- 
tured or killed within or without the State. 

28-E. No person, within the State shall take or destroy, 
or attempt to take or destroy, the nest or the eggs of any 
wild bird, other than a game bird, or have such nest or 

!a 8 "* A V',-"~ M ' New Seclions Added by Act 1916, Chapter 3S5. 
i Acts 1918, Chapter 439 restores doves to game list. 



15 

eggs in his or their possession, except as permitted in this 
act. 

28-F. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons 
or any corporation acting as a common carrier, its officers, 
agents or servants, to ship, carry, take or transport, either 
within or beyond the confines of the State, any resident or 
migratory wild non-game bird, except as permitted by this 
aet. 

28-G. Sections 28-C-D-E and F of this act shall not ap- 
ply to any person holding a certificate giving the right to 
take birds, their nest or eggs for strictly scientific purposes, 
as provided for in Section 28-H of this act, nor does it pre- 
vent any householder from keeping any resident or migra- 
tory birds in cages as pets, provided they are not kept for 
sale, barter or exchange, and that they shall not be shipped 
beyond the confines of the State. 

28-H. Certificates may be granted by the State Game 
Warden to any properly accredited person of the age of 
twenty-one years or upwards, permitting the holder thereof 
to collect birds, their nest or eggs, for strictly scientific 
purposes only. In order to obtain such certificate the ap- 
plicant for the same must present to the State Game 
Warden written testimonials from two well-known orni- 
thologists, certifying to the good character and fitness of 
said applicant to be entrusted with such privilege, and 
must pay to said officer one dollar ($1.00) to defray the 
necessary expenses attending the granting of such certifi- 
cate, balance, if any, to the State Game Protection Fund. 
On proof that the holder of such certificate has captured or 
killed any bird, or taken the nest or eggs of any bird for 
other than scientific purposes, the certificate shall become 
void, and he shall be liable to a fine of not less than fifty 
dollars ($50.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100), 
or imprisonment of thirty (30)- days, or both fine and im- 
prisonment. 

28-1. The certificates authorized by this act shall expire 
on the 31st day of December of the year issued, and shall 
not be transferable. 



16 

28-J. The English sparrow, starling, cooper's hawk, 
duck hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, and great horned owl, are 
not included among the birds protected by this act. This 
act does not prevent any person from killing crows or 
blackbirds on his premises if destructive to crops, provided 
that said birds are not sold or offered for sale or shipped 
out of the State. 

28-K. Any person violating any of the provisions of this 
act, except Section 2S-H, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and upon conviction before any justice of the peace, shall 
be liable to a fine of not less than five dollars ($5.00) nor 
more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), for each bird, living 
or dead, or part of a bird, or nest, or set of eggs or part 
thereof killed or captured or possessed, in violation of this 
act, or be imprisoned in jail for not more than thirty (30) 
days, or suffer both fine and imprisonment. 

28-L . All game wardens, sheriffs, constables or other of- 
ficers shall have the duty of enforcing the provisions of 
this act. 

28-M. All acts or parts of acts heretofore passed incon- 
sistent with or contrary to the provisions of this act are 
repealed. 

SIZE OF (UN. NIGHT SHOOTING, TRAPPING. FER- 
RETS, POISON, DESTROYING EGGS AND NESTS. 

29. Gun Only to Be Used. No person shall at any 
time in this State shoot at or kill any of the birds or 
-•line animals permitted to be shot or killed under this 
sub-title, with any other kind of gun than such as is 
habitually raised at arm's length from the shoulder, un- 
der a penalty of not less than five dollars ($5), nor more 
than twenty-five dollars ($25) for every such bird or 
game animal so shot at or killed, and under a further 
penalty of not less than fifty dollars ($50), nor more than 
one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense, and every 
gun which is not so habitually fired from the shoulder, as 
aforesaid, shall be liable to seizure by any State or county 
officer authorized to execute warrants and the forfeiture 



17 

and destruction by any justice of the peace before whom 
such gun shall be produced. (See Section 18.) 

30. Night Gunning Prohibited. No person shall in 
this State at any time shoot at or in any manner kill or 
catch, in the night time, any of the birds mentioned in 
the preceding sections of this sub-title under a penalty 
of not less than one dollar ($1), nor more than twenty- 
five dollars ($25) for each bird so killed or caught; and 
if at the trial it shall be proved that the person charged 
with shooting at or killing said birds in the night time 
was at or about the place where the shot was fired, and 
that he had a gun in his possession on the night in ques- 
tion, in the vicinity where such shooting occurred, either 
prior to or at the time of or after the shooting, such fact 
shall be deemed prima facie evidence of his having vio- 
lated the provisions of this section. (See Section 17.) 

31. Swivel Gun Prohibited. No person shall in this 
State at any time use or have in his possession, or sell or 
dispose of in any manner, any big or swivel gun, with 
the intent or for the purpose of shooting at or killing 
wild ducks, wild geese, wild swan, wild brant or other 
water fowl, under a penalty of not less than fifty dollars 
($50), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for 
each offense, and the possession or sale or disposition by 
any person of any such big or swivel gun in this State 
shall be deemed prima facie evidence that the same is 
possessed or sold, or disposed of with the intent, and for 
the purpose of shooting at or killing such birds in this 
State, and every gun shall be deemed a big gun, for the 
purpose of this law, which is not habitually raised at 
arm's length and fired from the shoulder. (See Sections 
18, 29 and 30.) 

32. Frightening Game. No person shall at any time in 
this State shoot at or do any act or thing whatsoever with 
the intent or purpose of frightening wild ducks, wild 
oecse, wild swan, wild brant or other water fowl of any 
kind from their feeding or roosting grounds, under a pen- 
alty of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25), nor more 



than one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense. (Sec 
Section 13.) 

33. Ferret Not to Be Used. No person shall in this 
State, at any time, use any ferret or weasel for the pur- 
pose of hunting, capturing or killing any of the aforesaid 
game animals, under a penalty of not less than ten dollars 
($10), nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25) for each 
offense, and under a further penalty of ten dollars ($10) 
for each such game animal so captured or killed. 

34. Destroying Nests or Eggs. No person shall in 
this State, at any time molest or destroy the nests or eggs 
of any of the aforesaid birds, except those of hawks or 
other birds destructive to domestic poultry and game birds, 
or those of English sparrows, crows and blackbirds, under 
a penalty of not less than one nor more than twenty-five 
dollars ($25) for each offense. (See Section 28-E.) 

35. Poisoning Poultry. No person shall kill or in- 
jure by poison any domestic poultry or any golden English 
or Mongolian pheasants, or any of the aforesaid game 
birds not the property of said person, but upon the prem- 
ises of and belonging to some one else, under a penalty 
of not less than ten dollars ($10), nor more than three 
hundred dollars ($300). 

36. Trapping Quail. No person shall trap, net or en- 
snare any partridge or quail, pheasant or ruffled grouse, 
wild turkey, woodcock or water fowl of any kind, or have 
in possession any trap, net or snare with the intent or 
purpose to capture or kill any such birds under a penalty 
of ten dollars ($10) for every such bird so trapped, killed, 
netted or ensnared, and under a further penalty of fifty 
dollars ($50) for the having in possession any such trap, 
net or snare, and every such trap, net or snare shall be 
forfeited and destroyed. 

BAG LIMIT. 

40. Bag Limit. It shall be unlawful for one person to 
kill more than twelve partridges (quail) in any one day, 
or more than two ruffed grouse in any one day, or more 



19 

than three English pheasants in any one day, or more than 
fifty rail in any one day, or more than fifty reedbirds in 
any one day, or more than twelve doves in any one day, or 
more than six woodcock in any one day, or more than 
ten rabbits in any one day, or more than ten squirrels in 
any one day, or more than ten jacksnipe' in any one day, 
or more than 25 wild water fowl (ducks, geese, swan and 
brant) in any one day for each man on or connected with 
the outfit, not exceeding four men in number, each of 
whom shall have a gunner's license, or more than 15 
yellow-legs in any one day, or more than five blackbreasted 
plover in any one day, or more than ten coots (crow bills) 
and gallinules in all in any one day, or more than four wild 
turkeys in any one season, or more than one deer per season, 
during the times when it shall be lawful to shoot such birds 
and animals. 

Chapter 545 of Act 1916, which re-enacts Section 40 so 
as to read as above stated, further provides "that all laws 
or parts of laws, either local or general, inconsistent here- 
with, are hereby repealed, and that this act shall take 
effect from the first of June, 1916." This repeals a num- 
ber of local Bag Limits. 

41. Penalties. Any person violating the provisions of 
the preceding section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
upon conviction thereof shall be fined in the sum of five 
dollars for each and every partridge, pheasant, or ruffed 
grouse, English pheasant, dove, woodcock, packsnipe, rab- 
bit or squirrel, and the sum of fifty dollars for each wild 
turkey, and one hundred dollars for each deer so killed in 
excess of the limits herein mentioned, and shall stand com- 
mitted to the county jail, if said fine is not paid, for one 
day for each dollar of fine imposed, but not for a period of 
more than sixty days, any deputy game warden or con- 
stable or informer who shall procure a conviction under 
this and the preceding section shall be entitled to the half 
fine recovered, and remaining half shall be paid over to 
the Conservation Commission to the account of the State 
Game Protection Fund, to be used by the State G-ame 
Warden as may be provided by law. 



20 

GAME WARDENS AND DEPUTIES. 

44. State Game Warden. The Conservation Com- 
mission of Maryland on the first Monday in June, 1918, 
and every two years thereafter shall appoint with the ap- 
proval of the Governor of this State a game warden for the 
State whose term of office shall be for two years or until 
his successor be appointed. The said game warden shall 
receive a salary from the State for his services of eighteen 
hundred dollars per annum, and shall be entitled to an ex- 
pense account not to exceed $500 per annum for actual 
traveling expenses, and other expenses incurred in the dis- 
charge of his duties. The said game warden may be re- 
moved by the Conservation Commission of this State at any 
time upon proof satisfactory to them that said game war- 
den is not vigorously enforcing the game or fish laws of 
this State, or is not a fit person for said position. 

Game Defined. The word "game" shall be taken to em- 
brace deer, rabbit, squirrel, water-fowl (including brant, 
wild ducks, geese and swans), rail, coot, gallinule, wood- 
cock, snipe, yellowlegs, plover, quail (partridge), ruffed 
grouse (pheasant), wild turkey, English Mongolian and 
dark-necked Bohemian pheasants, dove, reed-bird (rice- 
bird, bobolink) or blackbird, or any other birds or animals 
that arc protected by a closed season. Acts 1918, Chap- 
ter 468. 

Sec. 46. Deputy and Local Game Wardens. Whenever 
the game warden considers that it is necessary that he 
should have deputy game wardens appointed to assist him 
in more efficiently enforcing the game, wild life and fish 
laws of this state, he may apply to the Conservation Com- 
mission to commission such persons as he may designate to 
act as deputy game wardens in the counties and cities of the 
State, to enforce the game, wild life and fish laws of this 
State, and carry out all the provisions of this sub-title ; such 
sons may be appointed for the whole State or for such 
counties or cities as the Conservation Commission shall des- 
ignate. If the Conservation Commission approve such per- 
sons, they may appoint such persons deputy game wardens; 
such deputy game wardens shall not receive a salary from 



21 

the State, cities or counties, but shall be paid such compen- 
sation out of the State Game Protection Fund, as the game 
warden may agree with them, subject to the approval of 
the Conservation Commission. In similar manner there 
may be appointed local game wardens in any section or 
county of this State; such local game wardens shall not 
receive a salary, but shall receive • as their compensation 
one-half of all fines derived from the prosecution of viola- 
tors of the game and fish laws arrested by them. All dep- 
uty and local game wardens shall perform such other duties 
as the Commission may designate, including the guarding 
of the streams and waters of the State against pollution. 

Sec. 47. Wardens' Commissions. The Conservation Com- 
mission shall issue to each person so appointed as deputy 
or local game warden a commission, and transmit such 
commission to the clerk's office of the Circuit Court for 
the county in which the deputy game warden so appointed 
has his legal residence, or to the office of the Clerk of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Baltimore City, if residing in 
Baltimore City, and they may revoke and annul any such 
appointment at their pleasure. Acts 1918, Chapter 168. 

48. Oath and Authority. The game warden for the 
State and every deputy game warden shall, before entering 
upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe before the 
clerk of the circuit court of the county of which he is a 
resident, or if a resident of Baltimore City, before the 
clerk of the Superior Court of Baltimore City, the oath or 
affirmation prescribed by the sixth section of the first arti- 
cle of the Constitution of this State, which oath or affirma- 
tion shall be recorded in the clerk's office of such county or 
city. The game warden throughout the State, and also 
every deputy game warden so appointed, after the record- 
ing of the oath or affirmation to be by said game warden 
or deputy game warden taken as aforesaid, shall, in the 
county, counties, city or cities for which such deputy game 
warden may be appointed, possess and exercise all the au- 
thority and powers held or exercised by constables at com- 
mon law and under the statutes of this State, and also all 
authorities and powers conferred by law upon policemen 
in the City of Baltimore or other cities of the State, as far 



as arresting and prosecuting the persons for violating any 
of the fish and game laws of this State are concerned; and 
they are hereby vested with additional powers to arrest 
without warrants persons suspected or known to be guilty 
of violating any of the provisions of the game and fish laws 
of this State, and to forthwith take any and all such per- 
sons before the nearest justice of the peace to be dealt with 
in accordance with the provisions of the game and fish 
laws of the State. In the event of finding game or fish 
taken or had in possession contrary to the provisions of 
any of the game or fish laws of this State, upon the persons 
so dealt with, they shall proceed in the manner prescribed 
in Sections 52, 53, 54 and 55. The clerk shall only charge 
fifty cents for recording such oath or affirmation. 

49. Badges. The game warden and deputy game war- 
den shall, when acting in his official capacity, except when 
on detective duty, wear in plain view a metallic shield with 
the words ' ' Game Warden ' ' or Deputy Game Warden, ' ' as 
the case may be, inscribed thereon. The metallic shield or 
badge provided for in this section is hereby declared to be 
the property of the State, and upon the termination of the 
commission of any deputy game warden as provided for 
by Section 50, it shall be the duty of said deputy game 
warden to forthwith return to the State Game Warden the 
said shield or badge and also transmit to him for cancella- 
tion and return to the executive department his revoked 
commission. In case of the failure of said deputy game 
warden to comply with the provisions of this section, by 
returning immediately to the game warden his badge and 
commission after notice as provided by Section 50, he 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con- 
viction shall be fined five dollars and costs by any justice 
of the peace of the county or city in which he resides, the 
said fine to be payable to the game warden. Acts 1914. 

50. Dismissal op Deputies. Whenever the services of 
any deputy game warden shall no longer be required by 
the game warden, the game warden shall give a notice in 
writing to the effect to said deputy game warden and shall 
file the same in the office of the clerk where the oath of 
office of such deputy game warden shall be recorded, which 



23 

notice shall be noted by the clerk upon the margin of the 
record where such oath or affirmation is recorded, and 
thereafter the power of this deputy game warden shall 
cease and determine, and a copy of such notice shall be 
immediately served on such deputy game warden by the 
game warden and such service shall be by registered letter 
through the United States mails or by the sheriff of the 
county in which the commission of the said deputy game 
warden so removed shall be recorded. 

EIGHT TO SEARCH. 

(With or Without Warrant.) 

52. Seaech Warrants. If the game warden or any 
deputy game warden or. police officer or other person has 
reason to believe that any person or corporation has in his 
or its possession, contrary to law, any bird, game as de- 
fined by Section 44, or fish, it shall be the duty of the 
game warden, or such deputy game warden or such police 
officer, and the lawful privilege of such other person, to 
go before any justice of the peace in the county or city 
in which the bird, game or fish may be, and make affidavit 
of that fact ; said justice shall thereupon issue a search 
warrant against the person or corporation so complained 
of, directed to any constable of the said county or city, 
commanding him to proceed at once and search for said 
bird, game or fish and, upon finding the same, to seize 
and take possession of the same and keep it until further 
order by the justice. The said constable shall read said 
warrant to the owner or person in whose possession said 
bird, game or fish is supposed to be. Said warrant shall 
be returnable within not less than twelve hours nor more 
than twenty-four hours from the date thereof. Provided, 
that the game warden, or any deputy game warden, or 
other police officer may also without a warrant search any 
boat, car, box, locker, crate, or package, and any building, 
where he has reason to believe any bird, game or fish held 
in violation of law is to be found, and may seize any bird, 
game or fish so taken or held, and any bird, game or fish so 
taken or held, shall be disposed of by the game warden as 
he may deem advisable for the best interests of the State; 



■24 

provided, however, that this section shall not authorize en- 
tering a dwelling house, or apply to birds, game or fish 
which are passing through this State under authority of the 
laws of the I'nited States. Acts 1916, Chapter 386. 

53. Trials; Appeal. At the time mentioned in said 
warrant, said justice shall proceed to hear and determine 
whether said game or fish was in the possession of the per- 
son or corporation contrary to law; and if the said justice 
shall find that said game or fish was in the possession of the 
defendant contrary to law, then said justice shall enter 
judgment against the defendant and order sale of the game 
or fish so seized; but if the said justice shall find that the 
possession of such game or fish was not contrary to law 
then the judgment shall be that the same be returned to the 
person or corporation from whom the same was taken. An 
appeal to the circuit court for the county, or the Baltimore 
City Court, as the case may be, may be taken within two 
hours by the defendant from the judgment of the justice 
upon giving sufficient bond to cover the cost of the appeal 
and the value of the game or fish seized, to be determined 
by the justice. 

54-5. Sale of Game or Fish Condemned; Notice Re- 
quired; Disposition of Proceeds. In case of judgment 
and order of sale, as specified in Section 53, and in absence 
of appeal and tHe filing of a proper bond, as provided by 
said section, then said constable shall at once post two 
notices, one at the justice's door and the other at the place 
of sale, specifying in each notice the time and place of 
sale, not less than five hours from the hour at which the 
judgment was rendered, and also a description of the game 
or fish to be sold; and place of sale shall be at the most 
public place obtainable for the purpose. Said constable 
shall, at the time and place mentioned in said notice, sell 
such game or fish at public auction to the highest bidders 
for cash, and at once pay the proceeds of such sale to the 
justice; said ronstable shall give the purchaser a certificate 
of purchase m which shall be a particular description of 
the game or fish sold, together with the date of sale. If 
there has been no appeal, or if the judgment of the justice 
is affirmed on appeal, the said justice shall deduct his costs 



if not already paid, together with the constable's costs, 
which shall include a fee of 10 per centum of the amount 
of the proceeds of the sale for his services as auctioneer, 
and shall distribute the balance of such proceeds of sale or 
the ascertained value of the game or fish seized as secured 
by the bond, as follows: One-half shall be paid to the 
game warden, which shall be kept by him for his services, 
and one-half shall be paid into the county or city treasury 
for the benefit of the school fund. 

, IMMUNITY OF GAME WARDENS AND 
ASSISTANCE. 

Sec. 56. Assistance from Other Officials. All sheriffs, 
constables and police officers and all the officers appointed 
by the Conservation Commission shall assist in enforcing 
the provisions of this Article, and shall have all the powers 
of a deputy game warden. The game warden and the dep- 
uty game wardens and any other officers shall not be liable 
for any damage or costs sustained by any person or cor- 
poration by reason of the wrongful seizure of game, wild 
life or fish under this sub-title ; provided, however, that the 
enforcement of this sub-title shall in no wise prevent pros- 
ecution of persons or corporations for violations of the 
game, wild life or fish laws of this State. Acts 1918. 

57. Assistance. Whenever the game warden shall re- 
quire the assistance of the State Fishery Force he shall 
so advise the Conservation Commission, and if such request 
be approved, it shall instruct the Commander of the State 
Fishery Force to forthwith assist the game warden in the 
enforcement of the game and fish laws of the State. And 
whenever the game warden or the deputj^ game wardens 
shall require the advice and assistance of the State's At- 
torney and sheriffs of the several counties of the State or 
of Baltimore City, it shall be the duty of said officers to 
render the required assistance as in other State cases. 



OTTER. RACCOON. MUSKRAT. 

58. Otter, Raccoon, Muskrat. It shall be unlawful 
for any person to trap, catch or kill any otter, raccoon or 
muskrat within this State, or have the same in his pos- 

-loii, if trapped, caught or killed within this State, be- 
tween the first day of April and the first day of January 
in each year. 

59. Penalties; Counties Excepted. Five dollars to 
twenty dollars for each animal illegally caught, killed or 
had in possession. Docs not apply to Baltimore, Harford, 
Cecil, Charles, Howard, Anna Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, 

Mary's, Worcester, Garrett. Prince George's. Calvert, 
Allegany. Washington. Frederick. Montgomery and Queen 
Anne's Counties. See Local Laws, Part III. 



PATUXENT AND TRIBUTARIES. 
60-68. Boatman's License to Convey Gunners. Gun 
Clubs, etc. Sec Acts 1914, Chapter 315, page 479 and also 
Part 3, Local Laws, page — 



• EXPORT OF GAME. 

74. ExroRT of Game Prohibited. It shall be unlawful 
to export or ship out from the limits of the State 
of Maryland any wild game, water fowls excepted; 
and it shall also be unlawful for any express Com- 
pany or any common carrier, to knowingly accept 
any game, water fowl excepted, for shipment without 
the State. Provided, however, that any hunter who has 
obtained the necessary license to hunt within the State of 
Maryland, or any county thereof, shall be permitted to 
carry out with him as personal baggage, for own use and 
not for purpose of selling same, an amount of game killed 
by himself equal to one day's bag limit, upon exhibiting 
his license, if so required. Any game shipped to points 
within the limits of the State shall be plainly and conspicu- 
ously marked as game. 



-!/ 



Any person or corporation violating the provisions of 
this section shall be liable to a fine of not less than twenty- 
five nor more than one hundred dollars for each and every 
offense, upon conviction before any justice of the peace of 

the State. (Acts 1916, Chapter 215.) 



ELK AND DEER. 

73. Elk and Deer, Preserve for; License; Personal. 
Property, Closed Season for Six Years from June 1, 
1916. That there be a closed season on elk and deer within 
the State of Maryland for a period of six years beginning 
June 1, 1916. Any person convicted before any justice 
of the peace of Maryland of violation shall be fined not 
less than $25 nor more than $100 for each and every 
offense. One-half of fine shall go to the informer or officer 
causing the arrest and conviction, unless such officer be a 
salaried game warden, and the other half to the credit of 
the State Game Protection Fund. (Acts 1916, Chapter 
399.) 



STATE-WIDE HUNTING LICENSE. 

Sec. 75. Hunting Licenses. For the purpose of pro- 
viding a fund for the payment of the expenses of protect- 
ing and propagating certain birds and animals, and pre- 
venting unauthorized persons from killing the same, no 
person or persons shall at any time hunt, pursue or kill 
in any manner any game as defined in Section 44 of this 
Article, without first having procured a license and the 
written permission from the property owner or tenant on 
whose property said person may be hunting, to so hunt, 
pursue or kill, and then only during the respective periods 
of the year when it shall be lawful to hunt, pursue or kill 
birds and animals. The said license shall be procured from 
the Clerk of the Circuit Court of any county or from the 
Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Baltimore City in 
the following manner, to wit : 



28 

How Obtained. The applicant shall fill out, sign and 
forward to the Clerk of Court a blank application to be 
furnished by the State Game Warden through the Clerk of 
said Courts, stating the name, age, color, height, color of 
eyes, and hair, occupation and place of residence of the 
applicant. Application for any such license may be made 
through the mails. The applicant, if a non-resident of the 
State of Maryland, shall pay to the Clerk of the Court in 
which he files his or her application, the sum of ten dollars 
($10) as a license fee; if a non-resident landowner, of any 
county, to the assessed value of five hundred dollars ($500), 
he shall pay a fee of one dollar ($1.00), which will entitle 
him to hunt in the county in which his lands are as- 
sessed, and if he shall desire a State-wide license he shall 
pay a fee of five dollars ($5.00) ; and if a resident of the 
State of Maryland, the applicant shall pay to the Clerk of 
the Court of the county of which he is a resident, the sum 
of one dollar ($1.00), which shall entitle him to hunt in the 
county in which he procures such license, and if he shall 
desire a State- wide license he shall pay a fee of five dollars 
($5.00), which said license may be issued by the Clerk of 
any Circuit Court or by the Clerk of the Court of Common 
Pleas of Baltimore City. The Clerk of the Court shall 
thereupon issue a license, to be supplied- to the said Clerks 
by the State Game Warden, and the said license shall bear 
the signature of the State Game Warden, and shall be 
countersigned by the Clerk issuing the same, who shall at 
the same time fill out on a stub attached to the license 
blank, the name and address of the licensee and shall then 
detach said stub and mail same to the Conservation Com- 
mission. Such license shall be void on the first day of 
.June of each year following the date of issue. In addition 
to the license fee so received the Clerk issuing the same 
shall collect and retain the sum of twenty-five cents (25c.) 
from each non-resident licensee, and the sum of ten cents 
(10c.) from each resident licensee for issuing the same, 
and shall deliver the license properly executed to the appli- 
cant in person or by mail without further cost. And no 
license shall be issued to any person under fourteen years 
of age. except upon the written request of the parent or 
guardian. Such license shall not be transferable, and if 



29 

used or presented by any person other than the person to 
whom it was issued, such licene shall be confiscated by the 
State Game Warden, or any deputy game warden, constable 
or other officer who shall find such license being used. 

Aliens Prohibited. And no person not a citizen of the 
United States of America shall at any time hunt, pursue, 
kill or catch any wild animals or wild birds in this State, 
or have in his possession firearms of any kind. Acts 1918. 

Sec. 76: License to be Exhibited. Every license so is- 
sued shall entitle the person to whom it is issued to hunt, 
pursue and kill the birds and animals herein mentioned, in 
any county within this State, for which the same is issued, 
or anywhere within the State if it be a State-wide license, 
at any time when it shall be lawful to hunt, pursue or kill 
such birds or animals, and no person to whom such a license 
has been issued shall be entitled to hunt, pursue or kill the 
birds or animals referred to in Section 44 without at the 
time of such hunting, pursuing or killing having such 
license and written permission from the property owner or 
tenant on whose property said person may be hunting in 
his or her possession, and. upon demand, exhibiting the 
same for the inspection of the State Game Warden, deputy 
game warden, sheriff, constable or other officer. 

Sec. 77. Exemptions. The owners of farm lands, their 
children or tenants, or children of such tenants, shall with- 
out procuring such license, have the right to hunt, pursue 
and kill said enumerated birds and animals, during the 
open season for the.same, on the said farm lands of which 
he or they are the bona fide owners, children of such own- 
ers, or tenants, or children of such tenants. 

Sec. 78. Clerks The Clerks of the Circuit Courts of 
the counties, and the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas 
of Baltimore City, shall, on the first day of June, nineteen 
hundred and eighteen, and on the first day of each and 
every month thereafter, transmit to the Comptroller of this 
State all moneys received by them for licenses, after de- 
ducting the fees herein authorized ; the said amounts so re- 
ceived by the Comptroller shall be placed to the credit 
of a separate fund to be known as "The Stale Game Pro- 



30 

tectiQD Fund." and shall be disbursed by the said State 
Comptroller from time to time on warrants signed by the 
Conservation Commission of .Maryland. 

Use of Fund. The moneys in said fund shall be used 
solely for the salaries and expenses of the State Game War- 
den and his subordinates, and for the protection and pro- 
pagation of birds and game of all kinds, the Commission 
td make an equitable distribution of said funds among the 
counties of the State, in proportion to the amounts con- 
tributed to said fund by the respective counties. Out of 
said fund the State Came Warden shall pay the sum of 
fifty cents for each head of a bird-hawk or chicken-hawk 
actually killed in this State, to the person producing satis- 
factory proof of having killed said hawk within this State. 
The said Commission shall require the said State Game 
Warden to file an annual account with him, showing the 
entire receipts and disbursements of himself and all dep- 
uties, and exhibit vouchers therefor, and also shall require 
said State Game Warden to file an approved bond in the 
penalty of two thousand dollars ($2,000) for the faithful 
performance of his duties, the cost of said bond to be paid 
out of said fund. 

Sec. 79. Penalties. Any person found guilty of hunt- 
ing, pursuing or killing any of the birds or animals re- 
ferred to in this Act without having a license and written 
permission in his or her possession, except as herein pro- 
vided, or of refusing to show said license and written per- 
mission when demanded by the State Game Warden or any 
deputy or local game warden, sheriff, # constable or other 
officer, or violating any of the other provisions of this Act, 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con- 
viction thereof before ;i justice of the peace of this State, 
shall be fined fifteen dollars ($15) for each and every 
offense and shall stand committed to the county jail or the 
Baltimore City Jail until such fine and costs are paid, but 
such imprisonment shall not exceed fifteen days for each 
offense. 

Disposition of Fixes. Any constable or other officer or 
person other than the game warden or deputy game war- 
dens or officer under the Conservation Commission receiv- 



31 

ing compensation, who shall procure the conviction of any 
person for violating any provision or provisions of this 
Act, shall receive half of the fine recovered ; the remaining 
half shall he paid over to the State Comptroller for the 
account of the State Game Protection Fund, to be used as 
herein provided. The total fines hereafter collected by the 
State Game Warden or any of the deupty game wardens 
who receive other compensation shall be paid into the State 
Game Protection Fund.* 



GAME PENS. 



Secs. 83, 84, 85. Game Pens. It shall be unlawful 
for any person or persons to wilfully damage or 
destroy any game pen, fence or other enclosure 
used for the purpose of . raising and propagating of 
game birds and game animals, constructed or main- 
tained upon any land in this State by the owner 
thereof, or to wilfully poison, kill, wound, destroy, remove 
or steal any game birds or game animals, their young or 
their eggs, while kept or maintained within any such game 
pen, fence or other enclosure or to enter into any such 
game pen, fence or other enclosure, unless by and with the 
consent of the owner of the land on wdiich such game pen, 
fence or other enclosure is kept or maintained. 

Whoever shall violate Section 1 of this Act shall be 
liable, upon conviction thereof, to a fine of not less than 
fifty nor more than one hundred dollars and imprisonment 
in the House of Correction for a period of not more than 
six months. 

The Justices of the Peace in the counties and the Police 
Justices in the City of Baltimore shall have jurisdiction 
to hear and determine all eases arising under this Act, sub- 



* REPEAL OP OLD LICENSE LAWS. — Section 4 of Acts 191 S, 
Chapter 468, provides that all general or local laws or parts of such 
laws inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, and all resident 
and non-resident hunting license laws now in force, whethf r general 
or local, be and the same are hereby repealed. EXCEPTION. — Pro- 
vided that this Act shall not affect the present law relating to the 
killing of wild fowl and licensing of gunning rigs used in shooting 
wild fowl on the Susquehanna Flats. In case any section or pro- 
vision of this Act shall be held unconstitutional or invalid, the same 
shall not be held to affect any other section or provision of this Act. 



32 



ject to the right of the accused to pray a jury trial and 
e his case heard and determined in the Circuit Courts 
i,*r the counties and in the Criminal Court of Baltimore 
City. (Acts 1918, Chapter 398.) 



SYNOPSIS OF STATE-WIDE DOG LAW. 
Ads 1918, Chapter 497. 

Maryland Code, Article 81, Section 195. Provides on or 
before the first of July in each year the owner of every 
dog over six months old shall apply either orally or in 
writing to the county treasurer in which he or she resides, 
or to a justice of the peace, for a license for such dog, the 
cost of which shall be $1.00 for males and $2.00 for females. 
Kennell licenses, $10.00 for each person having not over 
25 dogs; $20.00 for over 25 dogs. This shall be the only 
license required. License must contain date, number and 
description of dog. Void on the first of July after issue. 
County Commissioners shall furnish the treasurer or jus- 
lice of the peace a metal tag with each license, tag to be 
affixed to dog's collar and kept on the dog, except when in 
kennel or when. hunting with owner. 

Sec. 196. County Commissioners shall prepare and fur- 
nish annually metal tags to the treasurer, or clerk to 
County Commissioners, also to justices of peace. Tags 
shall be of metal and have serial number corresponding 
with number on license. Such tag must have impressed 
thereon the calendar year. Tags furnished owners of ken- 
nels shall have the word "kennel" thereon. Lost tag may 
be replaced at a cost of 25 cents. 

Sec. 197. Justices of the peace after having received 
and receipted for necessary blanks and tags may issue same. 
Justices of the peace retain a fee of 25 cents for issuing 
same. Justices shall report each month to county treasurer 
and keep records, etc. 

Sic. 198. Any person may kill any dog pursuing, wor- 
rying, wounding or killing any poultry or live stock, or at- 



33 

tacking human beings, whether same bears a licensed tag 
or not. No liability on such persons for such killing. An 
unlicensed dog that enters a field or yard shall constitute 
a private nuisance, and owner or tenant, agent or servant 
may kill such dog while in said field or yard. 

Sec. 199. Money received from licenses shall be kept by 
the treasurers of the counties and shall be used to pay 
damages for injury and loss to sheep, poultry or live stock. 
In the event there is not enough money within the county 
sufficient to pay all such damages, same shall be paid in 
the order of their presentation. Any fund over $1,000 in 
the hands of the county treasurer, after all payment of 
claims at the end of each year, shall go to the public 
schools or roads. 

Sec. 200. Any inhabitant of any county who has live 
' stock so destroyed or injured may apply to a justice of 
the peace, who shall appoint three disinterested persons to 
appraise the damages, who shall report in writing the num- 
ber, character and extent of injuries and the amount of 
damage under oath; and the owner shall make oath that 
the same had been destroyed by dog or dogs. The County 
Commissioners shall review said report and shall award 
such amount as they deem fair. If the owner of dogs 
doing damage be known, County Commissioners shall 
notify such owners to kill same immediately. If said 
owner klls said dogs he shall be exempt from further 
liability ; if he refuses or neglects to do so, he shall be 
liable for said damages. 

Sec. 201. Provides for a fine of not less than $5.00, nor 
more than $25.00 for violation of above sections. 

This Act Does Not Apply to Baltimore City. 



NOTE. — The authority for enforcing this new law has been 
placed entirely in the hands of the county officials, and the Conser- 
vation Commission of Maryland and the game wardens have no 
power to enforce the provisions of this law. Its benefits, however, 
to game should be very great, and the Conservation Commission de- 
sires to give all those interested the contents of this law in order to 
assist the county officials in the enforcement thereof. 

CONSERVATION COMMISSION. 



34 



Part. II. 

STATE- WIDE FISH LAWS 

FISH AND FISHERIES. 
(Code Public General Laws, Article 39.) 

HEAD OF BAY. 

1. Season for Catching Herring and Shad in Chesa- 
peake Bay. No- person except resident citizens of this 
State shall fix, set or stake out any sort of gill nets, either 
stationary or floating, or any device whatever, for the 
taking of herring and shad in the Chesapeake Bay at any i 
time between the first of March and the first of June 
in each year; and any person so offending shall forfeit the 
vessel and tackle used in such fishing, and all the nets, 
apparatus and devices for taking fish, and also pay a fine 
of fifty dollars for each offense. 

2. Seine or Drag Nets; "When and Where Pro- 
hibited. No person shall, from, the tenth day of June to 
the first day of October in each year, fish with hauling 
seine or drag-net of any kind within the Chesapeake Bay 
or any of its tributaries lying nortlvward of the following 
line, viz : Beginning at Still Pond, in Kent County, and 
drawn westward to Lego's Point, in Harford County. 

3. Purse Nets Prohibited Above Certain Lines. No 
person shall at any time be allowed to fish with purse- nets 
at any point in the Chesapeake Bay above or north of 
a line drawn east from Robin's Point, on the Western 
Shore, to Handy 's Point, on the Eastern Shore of Mary- 
land. 

4. Purse Net Licenses (as amended, Acts 1917, Chap- 
ter 14.) No person shall fish with purse or buck nets 
within the State of Maryland south of the line drawn as 
aforesaid without first obtaining a license so to do from 



35 

the Comptroller of the Treasury, and then only from June 
15th to November 1st of each year, and the applicant shall 
pay the sum of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each and 
every purse or buck net owned and operated by him, 
whereupon the said Comptroller shall issue to such appli- 
cant a license or licenses to operate such purse or buck 
nets, and all moneys arising from said license shall be paid 
into the State Treasury to the credit of the Conservation 
Fund, and any person failing to procure such a license 
and violating this provision of this section shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be sub- 
ject to the fines and penalties imposed by Section 5 of this 
Article, and to the penalties imposed by the Statutes of 
Maryland for failure to procure licenses wherever required 
by law. It shall be unlawful to use a purse or buck net 
with a mesh less than three inches for the catching of food 
fish, and no license shall be issued by the Comptroller of 
the Treasury for the use of a purse or buck net with a mesh 
less than three inches, and it shall be unlawful to fish with 
purse or buck nets within any of the waters of this State 
for the purpose of catching menhaden or any other kind 
of fish for the manufacture therefrom of oil or guano, or 
for any other use than food; and any person or persons 
violating this provision shall upon conviction be subject 
to a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars, each day's 
illegal fishing to constitute a separate offense. Notwith- 
standing anything herein to the contrary, no one shall be 
permitted to use purse or buck nets in Chester Eiver or 
any of the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay within the 
limits of Baltimore, Queen Anne's, Anne Arundel, Har- 
ford and Cecil Counties. It shall be unlawful to use a 
purse net within one mile of the shores of Harford County, 
exclusive of Poole's Island. 

5. Penalties and Forfeitures for Violation of 
Above Sections. Any person or persons violating any of 
the provisions of Section 2, upon conviction thereof before 
any justice of the peace of the county in which said sec- 
tion has been violated, shall pay a fine of fifty dollars, one- 
half of which shall go to the informer; and any hauling 
seine or hauling seines, drag-net or drag-nets, and the boat 



3(5 

or boats and material used in fishing the same are hereby 
.Iceland to be forfeited; and the justice before whom said 
conviction and condemnation shall be had is authorized 
and directed to have said fishing apparatus sold by the 
sheriff or constable making said arrest to the highest bid- 
der, and the proceeds, together with half the fine, after de- 
ducting the cost, shall be paid to the county commissioners 
of the county in which said offense shall be committed for 
the use of the school fund of said county. 

6. Appeals. Any person, on conviction, failing to pay 
the fine as prescribed in the preceding section, shall be im- 
prisoned in the county jail of the county in which said of- 
fense shall be committed ; provided, however, that any one 
so offending shall, upon conviction before any justice of 
the peace of the county in which said offense shall be com- 
mitted, have the right of appeal to the Circuit Court for 
the county in which said offense shall be committed, under 
the same restrictions that govern appeals from the de- 
cisions of justices of the peace. 

7-8. Fish Stakes or Poles in Upper Bay and Certain 
Rivers Prohibited; Penalties. No person shall place in 
the head waters of the Chesapeake Bay or in the Sassafras. 
Elk, Bohemia, North East or Susquehanna Rivers or in 
any of their tributaries any stakes, piles or other thing for 
the purpose of attaching seines or nets thereto, with the 
view of taking shad or fish of any description ; this not to 
apply to any portion of said bay below Poole's Island. 
Any person violating this section shall forfeit the seine or 
nets attached as aforesaid and the boats and materials used 
for fishing the same and shall also for each offense pay a 
fine of $50.00. See local laws, Cecil County, which has a 
local law permitting pound nets in its waters from August 
1 to June 10. 

9-11. Prohibits Anchoring Vessel in Any Fishery 
in Upper Bay; Penalties; Forfeitures. (Text omitted, 
see Code.) 

12. Prohibits Vessels Sailing Through Seines ; Dam- 
ages; Penalties. (Text omitted, see code.) 



37 

13-14. Prohibits Floats Being Anchored so as to 
Interfere With Shore Fishery; Regulates Hauling 
Seine from Floats; Penalties. (Text omitted; see Code.) 

PATAP8CO. 

15. Fish Ladders in Patapsco. The owners of all dams 
on the Patapsco River are required to make and keep, or 
cause to be made and kept, in repair proper fish ladders 
and have them placed on said dams, so as to afford to the 
fish in said river free course up and down said river. 

16-17. Penalties for Violation of Above Section; 
Appeal. (Text omitted, see Code.) 

SEVERN RIVER. 

Acts 1916, Chapter 581. Unlawful to fish in Severn 
River or any tributary thereof with seine, net, weir or 
other implement or instrument, except hook and line. Pen- 
alty, $20-$100. Line from Greenbury Point to Horn Point 
marks mouth of Severn, for this law. 

*PATUXENT. 

18. Restrictions on Fishing in Patuxent River and 
Tributaries; Provisos. It shall not be lawful for any 
persons, other than bona fide resident citizens of Prince 
George 's, Charles, St. Mary 's and Calvert Counties, to take 
or catch fish in the waters of the Patuxent River and tribu- 
taries, with any seine, weir trap or other device, excepting 
only the hook and line; provided, that the provisions of 
this section shall not apply to such as shall obtain per- 
mission from the owners of the lands bordering on said 
waters to fish off and opposite their land or lands so bor- 
dering on said waters ; and provided, that none other than 
Dona fide resident citizens of said counties shall use, in any 
of the waters of said river that bind on Prince George's, 
Charles and Calvert Counties above the village known as 
Benedict, any seine, weir, or net more than seventy fathoms 
long and less than two inches square in the mesh. 



*See also Part III. 



38 

19. Emptying Seines upon Beach Prohibited. It 
shall not be lawful for any person to empty his seines upon 
the beach so as to leave the smaller fish to perish, but he 
shall empty the same in water of sufficient depth to enable 
such smaller fish to return to the waters for growth and 
maturity. 

20. Penalties for Violating Two Preceding Sec- 
tions. Any person violating the provisions of the two 
preceding sections shall be fined not less than twenty-five 
nor more than one hundred dollars, in the discretion of 
the justice of the peace before whom the case is heard; 
which amount shall be appropriated to the public school 
fund of the county wherein such judgment is rendered; 
and for the payment of the amount of fine so adjudged, 
any boat, seine, weir or other fishing tackle used by any 
person in violation of the provisions of the two preceding 
s< ctions shall be seized and held as security upon complaint 
against such offending party. 

21. Restrictions; Seine Hauling Patuxent River. 
It shall not be la\fful for any persons, except bona fide 
residents of St. Mary's, Anne Arundel, Charles, Calvert 
and Prince George's Counties, to haul in the waters of the 
Patuxent River; between Sheriden's Point and Point 
Patience, any seine of greater length than sixty fathoms at 
any time between the first day of June and the first day 
of October following. 

22. Penalties for Violation of Above Section. Any 
person violating the provisions of the preceding section 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con- 
viction thereof before a justice of the peace for Calvert 
< ounty. or before the Circuit Court for Calvert County, 
shall lie fined a sum not less than twenty dollars nor more 
than fifty dollars; one-half thereof to be paid to the in- 
Eormier and the other half thereof to the county commis- 
sioners of said county. 

23. Further Regulations; Patuxent River. No per- 
son shall stake down any seine or net entirely across the 
Patuxent River for the purpose of taking shad or herring ; 



39 

nor shall any person whip, thresh or beat the waters of 
the Patuxent River with poles or any other instrument 
for the purpose of driving any fish within any seine or 
net; nor shall any person, except bona fide residents of 
Prince George's, Charles, St. Mary's, Anne Arundel and 
Calvert Counties, in fishing in the said river, between the 
fifth day of March and the fifteenth day of May, use any 
seine or net with meshes of less than one and one-half 
of an inch square ; or during the rest of the year with any 
seine or net with meshes of a less size than two inches 
square ; and no person shall empty any seine except in 
water twelve inches deep ; and any person violating this 
section shall be subject to the fine and forfeiture provided 
in Section 20. 

24. Prohibits Anchorage Near Fishing Shore in 
Patuxent. No vessel, float, raft or boat of any descrip- 
tion, unless compelled to do so by stress of weather or other 
unavoidable accident, shall be anchored or stayed in the 
birth or haul of any regularly-hauled fishing shore in the 
Patuxent River and remain thus anchored for the space of 
half an hour when the weather will permit the departure 
of such vessel, raft, float or boat after being warned to 
depart therefrom by the owner or occupant of said fishery. 

25-26. Penalties and Fines for Violation of Above 
Two Sections. Any person violating the preceding sec- 
tion shall pay to owner of said fishery a fine of twenty 
dollars for each offense, and every hour the vessel, float or 
boat continues after the half hour mentioned in the pre- 
ceding section shall be considered a new and separate of- 
fense. The captain or owner of the vessel, float or boat re- 
ferred to in the two preceding sections shall be liable to 
pay said fine, and the vessel, float or boat so anchored and 
stayed as above mentioned shall also be liable to be seized 
and sold to pay any fines imfposed under the preceding 
section. 

27. Vessels Sailing Through Seine; Penalties. If 
any such vessel, float or boat shall be wilfully, wantonly 
and maliciously, or from gross negligence, sailed through 
any seine extended in any of said fisheries, the skipper, 



captain or other person commanding such vessel, float or 
boat shall pay to the owner or holder of such seine not 
less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars, at the 
discretion of the justice of the peace trying the case. 

28. Obstructions to Fishery. If any person shall wil- 
fully and maliciously put any stake, log, stone, ballast or 
other obstruction in the berth or haul of any fishery, he 
shall pay a fine not less than twenty nor more than one 
hundred dollars, at the discretion of the justice of the 
peace trying the case. 

29. Further Regulations; Fishing in Patuxent. It 
shall not be lawful for any person, persons, corporation or 
corporations to set, place, construct or use any pound net, 
fyke net, trap net, sunken net or staked net of any kind, 
or any device of any kinds or description now known or 
hereafter to be invented for trapping or catching fish in 
any part of the Patuxent River from Queen Anne Bridge 
on said river down said river to a straight line drawn 
across the mouth of said river from Drum Point Light 
House, in Calvert County, to Hog Point, in St. Mary's 
County, nearer than 500 yards in every direction from 
any other net or device above mentioned or of the total 
length of any net or device above mentioned of more than 
175 yards in length, including the leaders or hedges or 
wings thereof, below a straight line from Truman's Point 
Wharf, across said river, to a point on the shore directly 
opposite said wharf, or of a total length of more than 50 
yards in said river above said straight line from Truman's 
Point Wharf or at a greater distance across the waters 
above mentioned from low water mark on either side ; and 
be it further provided that whenever the word net, or the 
word device, is mentioned in this section it shall be held 
to include the leader or leaders, or hedge or hedges,- or 
wing or wings, of said net or device; provided, however, 
that this section shall not apply to catching fish with hook 
and line, floating gill nets, purse nets or seines. Provided, 
that nothing in this section shall prevent anyone from cap- 
turing or destroying in any manner any German carp, or 



41 

leather carp, or any carp of any description or any size. 
(Acts 1918, Chapter 406.) 

30. Size of Mesh. It shall be unlawful to use or haul 
any seine or gill net or purse net in any part of said river 
with a smaller mesh than that prescribed in Section 23 of 
this article, or at any other time than prescribed by said 
Section 23 or in any creek or tributary of said river less 
than two hundred feet wide at its mouth. 

31. Purse Seines Prohibited; Exception. It shall 
not be lawful for any person to catch or take fish in the 
Patuxent River or any of its tributaries with purse seines, 
except for food purposes. 

32. Permits. Any person wishing to catch or take 
fish in the Patuxent River with purse seines for food pur- 
poses shall make application to a justice of the peace in 
the county in which he resides for a permit and shall make 
oath before said justice of the peace that he is a resident 
of said county and does not intend to catch fish for the 
purpose of manufacturing into fertilizer or to put upon 
the land in a raw state, and all person or persons making 
a false oath shall be deemed guilty of perjury and subject 
to the penalty provided in case of perjury. 

33-35. Arrest of Offenders; Forfeitures; Trial; 
Penalty. (Text omitted; see Code.) 

POTOMAC. 

36. Shad and Herring Season in Potomac. The fishing 
season for shad and herring in the waters of the Potomac 
River shall begin the fifteenth day of March and end the 
first day of June in each year. 

37. Penalty. If any person shall haul, drift, anchor 
or stake in the Potomac River, or any of its tributaries in 
the State, any gill nets or seine of any description (except 
those commonly called market seines for summer and win- 
ter fish, and sturgeon nets with eight-inch meshes), at 
any time not within the period fixed by the preceding 
section, he shall forfeit all the boats, seines and fixtures 



-!2 

then in his possession and be fined for each offense not 
less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars. 

38. Regulations for Hauling Seine. No person shall 
haul, drift or fish any seine or gill nets within the water 
bounds or berths of any regularly hauled fishing landing, 
nor opposite to any part of the shore of the owner or 
occupier of any such landing, within hauling distance 
from such shore, between the fifteenth day of March and 
the first day of June in each year, without the permission 
of the owner or occupier of such fishing landing ; and any 
person so offending shall be subject to the forfeiture and 
fine prescribed by the preceding section. 

39. Arrest of Offenders. The owners or occupiers of 
the regularly hauled fishing landings are authorized to 
render any sheriff or other officer assistance necessary to 
arrest any person violating any of the provisions of the 
two preceding sections; and the said officer shall seize all 
boats, seine and fixtures in possession of such person, and 
carry the person so arrested before some justice of the 
peace, to be dealt with as herein directed ; and the said 
officer may summons the posse comitatus to aid him in 
making arrest or seizure authorized by this section; and 
may for that purpose also press, at the expense of the 
State, any steamboat or other vessel belonging to any 
citizen of this State not actually ongaged in carrying the 
United States mail. 

40. Season for Catching Bass in PoroMAC. It shall 
not be lawful for any person to catch or kill any black 
bass, green bass, rock bass, pike or pickerel or wall- 
eyed pike (commonly known as salmon), between the 
fifteenth day of April and the first day of June of each 
year; nor catch or kill any of said species of fish at any 
other time during the year, save only with rod, hook and 
line or dip-net. The words "hook and line" shall not in- 
clude trot-line or out-lines. This section is not applicable 
to Montgomery County. 

41-2. Penalties; Where Applicable. (Text omitted, 
see Code.) 



43 

43. Tributaries of Potomac. It shall not be lawful 
for any person to catch or kill any black bass, green bass, 
pike or pickerel or wall-eyed pike (commonly known as 
salmon) in the tributaries of the Potomac River between 
the fifteenth day of April and the first day of June of 
each year, nor catch or kill any of said species of fish 
at any other time during the year save only with a rod, 
hook and line or dip-net. 

44. Penalty. Any person violating the provisions of 
Section 43 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be 
punishable, on conviction, by imprisonment in the county 
jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding 
two hundred dollars, or by fine and imprisonment. 

45. Localities Exempt. The provisions of Sections 43 
and 44 shall not be applicable below Little Falls, near 
Washington, and shall not apply to that part of the waters 
of the Monocacy River and its tributaries lying in Crea- 
gerstown and Woodsboro Districts, Frederick County, and 
Middlebury District, in Carroll County, from the bridge 
over the Monocacy River on the turnpike road leading 
from Woodsboro to Creagerstown, in Frederick County, 
to the head of the Monocacy River and its tributaries. 
(See Section 78.) 

46. Obstructing Fisheries Prohibited. If any person 
shall, during the months of March, April, May and June, 
place any boat, vessel or other obstruction or hindrance in 
the way of laying out or hauling any seine used in any 
lawful fishery on said river or its tributaries, or otherwise 
obstruct or hinder such laying out or hauling, and he or 
his agents shall fail or refuse forthwith to remove such ob- 
struction or hindrance on being required to do so by the 
person so obstructed or hindered, he shall pay a fine of 
not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars. 

47. Penalties for Violating Above Section. (Text 
omitted, see Code.) 

48. Anchorage of Vessel. Any owner or occupier of 
a fishery on the Potomac River may cause and permit all 



44 

vessels employed by him in carrying on his business to 
be anchored or moored opposite his shore, but not so as to 
interfere with the rights of the owners or occupiers of ad- 
joining shores in laying out their seines. 

49. License for Shad and Herring. No person shall 
fish in the Potomac River or its tributaries for shad and 
herring during the season prescribed in Section 36 with 
seines, gill nets or nets of any kind, without having first 
obtained a license therefor, as hereinafter provided; and 
no person shall be entitled to obtain such license for fish- 
ing with a hauling seine who is not the owner or occupier 
of some fishing shore on said river ; nor shall any persons 
be entitled to obtain such license for fishing with gill nets, 
except bona fide citizens of the counties bordering on said 
river. 

50. How Licenses Obtained. All persons entitled 
under the preceding section to fish for shad and herring 
in the Potomac River and its tributaries shall first obtain 
a license therefor, by application to the clerk of the circuit 
court for the county bordering on said river, opposite to, 
or in which he may desire to fish, which license shall have 
effect for and during the period fixed in Section 36; and 
the Comptroller of the Treasury shall cause to be printed 
and delivered to the several clerks of the circuit courts for 
the counties bordering on said river, the requisite number 
of such blank licenses, and take their receipts for the same, 
as for other licenses furnished; and said clerk shall, on 
the first Monday in June in each year, return to the said 
Comptroller a list and account of such licenses issued 
by them. 

51. Contents of Licenses. Every license to fish, as 
aforesaid, shall state the name and residence of the person 
to whom the same is granted, the description of the fishing 
fix to be used, whether hauling seine or gill net ; the num- 
ber of square fathoms of seine or net when rigged, and 
that he is the bona fide owner of the same; and every per- 
son to whom such license may be granted shall first pay to 
the clerk where granted three cents for each square fathom 
of seine, and one cent for each square fathom of gill net 



45 

to be used; but no license shall be granted to any one 
applying for the same unless such applicant shall make 
oath before the clerk authorized to issue the same, or be- 
fore some justice of the peace of the same county, upon 
whose certificate the clerk may issue said license, that the 
number of square fathoms of the seine or net to be used, 
and the other facts to be inserted in said license, are 
strictly true, and that he will obey and comply with all the 
provisions of the law's of this State regulating fishing in 
the Potomac River ; and for each and every outfit, whether 
of hauling seine or gill net, a license shall be required. 

52-56. Fishing in Potomac Without License Prohib- 
ited ; Number of License to Be Painted on Boat ; Ar- 
rests for Violation; Forfeitures; Penalties; Disposi- 
tion of Fines. (Text omitted, see Code.) 

57. Fishing from Arks, Lighters or Floats Prohib- 
ited; Penalties. It shall be unlawful hereafter for any 
person to fish in the Potomac River from what are known 
as arks or lighters, or from any kind of vessel or float, 
by whatever named called, in or upon which persons may 
live or may exclusively occupy; but all such fishing shall 
be with and from regular seine or gilling boats. (Penal- 
ties prescribed, see Code.) 

59-B (Art. 39.) Regulations for Fishing and Crabbing 
in Potomac. Any citizen of Maryland or Virginia desiring 
to fish for market or profit with a pound net, fyke net, 
gill net, haul seine, sturgeon net, skirt net, weir or other 
device in the waters of the Potomac River, shall first apply 
to the regularly constituted officer, as determined by the 
laws or regulations of the State of which he is a resident, 
and in the district or locality in which said applicant re- 
sides, except that the applicant for license to fish with the 
fixed device shall apply to the officer of the district or 
locality in which such fixed device is proposed to be located 
for a license, and state on oath the true name or names 
of the person or persons applying for said license; that 
they are and have been for twelve months next preceding 
residents of the State in which such application has been 
made ; the place at which the net, seine, fyke, weir or other 



4G 

device is to be fished, and that during the period of the 
license he will not violate any of the laws of the State 
in which he resides in relation to the taking and catching 
of fish ; provided, nothing in this section shall apply to any 
person using a net solely for the purpose of supplying his 
own table. Such oyster inspector or other authorized offi- 
cer shall thereupon grant license to use such net or other 
device, and state in such license the name or names of the 
person or persons who shall use the same, the place at 
which it is to be located or used, the season for which 
said license is granted, which season shall begin on the 
first day of February in any year and end on the thirty- 
first day of January of the year following, and the amount 
of tax as prescribed by the laws of the State where issued. 

Any citizen of either Maryland or Virginia desiring to 
take or catch crabs from the waters of the Potomac River 
by any method, or any person desiring to engage in the 
business of buying crabs for picking or canning or shipping 
the same, shall pay to the oyster inspector or other desig- 
nated official in the district in which he resides such spe- 
cific license tax as is prescribed by the State of which he 
is a resident. 

If any person shall use or set, or cause to be used or set, 
any such net or seine as aforesaid, or shall take or catch 
crabs in the waters of the Potomac River within the juris- 
diction of the State of Maryland or Virginia without hav- 
ing first paid the tax and obtained the license provided for 
under the laws of the State in which such net is set or 
crabs are taken, he shall be deemed guilty of a violation 
of the provisions of this section, and shall, for each such 
violation, be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than 
two hundred dollars, and shall forfeit to the State such 
net or other fishing devices used in said violations. 

It shall be unlawful for any person to use a haul seine 
or pound net, head or pocket having a smaller mesh than 
two inches, stretched measure, for the purpose of catching 
food fish. Any net having a funnel mouth, round mouth, 
tr square mouth, with head above water, shall be con- 
strued as a pound net. Any person or persons using a 
net in violation of this provision shall be fined not less 



47 

than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for 
each offense, and such net or nets shall be forfeited to the 
State. Acts 1912, Chapter 4. 

Boundary Line, Maryland-Virginia. By joint resolu- 
tion No. 5, which appears in the Acts of 1916 at page 1678, 
the Conservation Commission of Maryland as successor to 
the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners and the Com- 
mander of the State Oyster Navy are "authorized and 
directed to mark and maintain with buoys placed at inter- 
vals of not more than one mile apart the line between the 
waters of the State of Maryland and the waters of the 
State of Virginia from Cedar Straits in Pocomoke Sound 
to Williams Point in Pocomoke River." 

This work was performed by the Commissions of the 
States of Maryland and Virginia. See Joint Report of 
Engineers Earle and RUediger submitted December, 1916, 
and printed in First Annual Report of Conservation Com- 
mission of Maryland, pages 50-61. 

RIVERS IN TALBOT, DORCHESTER AND 
CAROLINE. t 

60. Fishing Regulations. No person shall take or 
catch fish in the waters of Talbot, Dorchester or Caroline 
Counties except the citizens of said counties, and except 
such residents of this State as may obtain the permission 
of the owner or occupier of land bordering on any of the 
said waters; provided, that any person so obtaining per- 
mission shall not employ in his service any other than a 
bona fide resident of this State. 

61. Penalty. Any person violating the preceding sec- 
tion shall pay a fine of not less than five nor more than 
fifty dollars, and forfeit the boat or vessel in his posses- 
sion, together with the seine, tackle and all things on 
board at the time the offense may be committed. 



48 

WYE RIVER AND RIVERS IX QUEEN ANNE'S AND 
KENT COUNTIES. 

62. Seine Hauling Without Shore-Owner's Permis- 
sion Prohibited. If any person shall haul a seine in 
Wye River, or any of the rivers of Queen Anne's or Kent 
Counties, without the permission of the owner or occupant 
of the shore where such seine may be hauled, such owner 
or occupant may seize, by way of distress, the seine, boat, 
tackle and everything on board the boat, and may have 
the damages sustained by him by reason of such hauling of 
a seine ascertained by a justice of the peace or by three 
citizens to be summoned and sworn by a justice of the 
peace ; and when the damages are so ascertained the owner 
or occupant of such shore may have the seine, boat and 
articles so distrained appraised and sold to pay such 
damages. 

FINES, PENALTIES AND FORFEITURES. 

63-71. Penalties; Arrests; Procedure; Forfeitures; 
Proceeds; Sales; Disposition of Fines; Committals. 
(Text omitted, see Code.) 

TROUT AND OTHER FISH. 

72. Seasons for Catching Trout. It shall not be law- 
ful for any person to take, catch or kill any speckled brook 
trout, or any speckled river trout, save only with a hook 
and line, or to have any such trout in his possession, except 
during the months of April, May, June, July and the first 
fifteen days in the month of August, under a penalty of 
five dollars for each trout so caught or had in his pos- 
session; but this section shall not prevent any person or 
corporation from catching trout in any manner or at any 
time in waters owned by him or them, or upon his or their 
premises to stock other waters. (The Act of 1916, Ch. 404, 
permits the catching of brook trout in the waters of Fred- 
erick County with rod, line and hook from March 31st 
to July 1st.) (Several local exceptions.) 



49 

73. Regulations. It shall not be lawful for any person 
within this State to take or catch any brook trout at any 
time in any of the waters of the State by means of any 
fish-basket, seine or seines, net or nets, trap or traps, 
under a penalty of five dollars for each and every fish 
so taken. 

74. Poisoning Fish. No person shall place in any 
fresh water stream, lake or pond, without the consent of 
the owner, or in the waters and estuaries with the rivers 
debouching into them, any lime or other deleterious sub- 
stance, with the intent thereby to poison or catch fish, un- 
der a penalty of one hundred dollars. 

75. Artificial Ponds. Whenever any person who 
owns, controls or erects an artificial pond upon his own 
land, or land of which he is in legal possession, shall put 
therein any fish, or the eggs or spawn of fish, for the pur- 
pose of breeding and cultivating fish, and shall give notice 
thereof, either in one or more newspapers of the county, 
or by written or printed handbills put up in public places 
near said pond, any person who shall thereafter enter 
upon such premises, without the consent of the owner, 
for the purpose of fishing, or shall catch in said pond or 
ponds and take therefrom any fish, shall be guilty of a 
trespass, and, in addition thereto, shall be liable to a pen- 
alty of five dollars for the first fish, ten dollars for the 
second, and twenty dollars for the third and each subse- 
quent offense. 

76. Trout Fish Culture. Any person or company en- 
gaged in the increase of brook trout by artificial process 
(known as fish culture) may take from his or their pond 
or ponds in any way, and cause to be transported, and may 
sell any brook trout and the spawn of brook trout at any 
time; and common carriers may transport them, and 
dealers may sell them on condition that the packages 
thereof so transported are accompanied by a certificate 
from a justice of the peace, certifying that such trout are 
sent by the owners or agents or parties so engaged in fish 
culture; and such person or company may take, in any 
way and at any time, upon the premises of any person, 



50 

under permission of the owners thereof, brook trout to be 
kept and used for artificial propagation only, and for no 
other purpose. 

77. Prosecutions. Violation of any of the provisions 
of the five preceding sections may be prosecuted by any 
citizen of the county in which said violation shall take 
place, before any justice of the peace or circuit court for 
said county; funds paid as penalties shall be equally 
divided between the informer and the public school com- 
missioners of the county, for the benefit of the public 
schools in the district where the offense is committed. 

78. Season for Bass and Other Fish. No person shall 
catch or in any manner take or kill in any waters of this 
State, above a point where the tide ebbs and Aoavs, any 
black bass, pickerel or pike perch, otherwise known as 
wall-eyed pike, and California salmon, between the first 
day of April and the fifteenth day of June, both inclusive, 
in each and every year, in any manner whatsoever, nor 
at any time, save only with rod, line and single hook, 
baited with natural bait, or tied with artificial fly, or with 
a spoon or spinner, each equipped with a single hook, or 
of any size less than eight inches, measuring in the case 
of each fish from the tip of the nose to the end of the 
caudal fin or tail, under a penalty of five dollars ($5.00) 
for each fish so unlawfully caught, taken or killed. 

79. Size of Fish. No person shall catch or in any man- 
ner take or kill in the said waters thereof at any time any 
white or yellow perch of any size less than seven inches in 
length, or any pike less than fourteen inches in length, or 
any rock, otherwise known as striped bass, less than ten 
inches in length, or any tailor less than eight inches in 
length, or white catfish under seven inches, or any stur- 
geon weighing less than twenty pounds, or any rock weigh- 
ing over twenty pounds, in spawning season of April, May 
and June, measuring, in case of fish, from the tip of the 
nose to the end of the caudal fin or tail, excepting haul 
seines during the time between April first and June 
twelfth. Ads 1910. Chapter 255. 



51 

80. Obstructing Streams. No person shall, in this 
State, in any manner or at any time, so obstruct any 
stream above where the tide ebbs and flows in which trout 
or other fish have been placed by the State or national 
government so that said fish shall not have free access 
up and down said stream, under a penalty of not less 
than ten dollars ($10), nor more than twenty-five dollars 
($25) for every such offense. 

81. Fish Ladders. Every owner of a dam or dams 
upon any of the said waters of this State is hereby re- 
quired to make and keep in repair, or cause to be made 
and kept in repair, and placed upon said dam or dams 
at least one fish ladder of such character as to enable fish 
to have a free course up and down said waters at all 
times under a penalty of nftt less than twenty-five dollars 
($25), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each 
and every offense; provided that one-half the cost of con- 
structing said fish ladders, upon dams in Harford County 
now in existence, shall be borne by the county commis- 
sioners of said county. 

82. Throwing Explosives in Fish Waters Prohib- 
ited ; Exception ; Penalties. No person shall place, 
throw or make use of in any of said waters, except from 
bona fide engineering, milling or mining purposes, any 
dynamite or other explosive substance, or any lime, poison, 
acid, sawdust, shaving or other substance whatsoever dele- 
terious to or destructive of fish life, under a penalty of not 
less than one hundred dollars ($100), nor more than three 
hundred dollars ($300), or imprisonment in the peni- 
tentiary for not less than one year nor more than three 
years, or be both fined and imprisoned in the discretion of 
the court ; provided, however, that nothing in this section 
shall apply to sawmills now in operation until October 1, 
1903, unless said sawmill or mlills shall in the meantime 
change its or their location; and further provided, that 
any sawmill or mills moving from its or their present lo- 
cation, shall be considered a new mill or mills, and shall be 
subject to the provisions of this section. 



52 

82-A. Pollution Prohibited; Penalties (Act 1917, 
Chapter 14.) Whenever any watercourse, well, spring, 
open ditch, gutter, cesspool, sewer, private or public, 
drain, privy-pit, pigpen, or other place, or any accumula- 
tion or deposit of waste or other offensive or noxious mat- 
ters discharged fron any house, building, trades establish- 
ment or manufacturing place, or any waste from any ves- 
sel, shall become or dangerously threaten to become dele- 
terious to or destructive of fish or shell-fish life, or the pro- 
pagation, cultivation or conservation thereof, or to their 
safety as human food, or in any manner a menace to said 
fish or shell-fish whether private or public property, in any 
waters of the State, the Conservation Commission of Mary- 
land shall forthwith investigate the matter, and if it be so 
found shall serve a notice in writing on the person, firm 
or corporation, by whose act, default or sufferance such 
condition may arise or continue, requiring the abatement 
of the same within a time to be fixed by the Commission 
and to be specified in the notice, under a penalty of not 
less than one hundred dollars, nor more than three hun- 
dred dollars, or imprisonment for not less than one year 
nor more than three years, or be both fined and imprisoned, 
in the discretion of the Court. It shall be construed as a 
separate and distinct offense for each day the nuisance is 
permitted to continue acfter the expiration of the time limit 
set forth in the notice for the abatement of such nuisance, 
provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be 
deemed to alter, change, modify or restrict the jurisdic- 
tion of the State Board of Health of Maryland ; provided, 
however, that the provisions of this section shall not apply 
to the Sewerage Disposal Plant of any city, town or county 
in this State. (Acts 1917, Chapter 8, provides : Every- person, 
his aiders and abbettors, who knowingly and wilfully poi- 
sons, defiles or in any way corrupts or contaminates the 
waters of any well, spring, brook, lake, pond, stream, river, 
reservoir or other source of water supply, or any tributary 
thereof, used or usable for drinking or domestic purposes, 
by means of disease germs, bacteria or the insertion of any 
other poison or poisonous matter therein, or attempts so 
to do * * * shall be guilty of a felony and upon con- 
viction shall be subject to imprisonment in the penitentiary 



for not more than twenty years, in the discretion of the 
court. ) 

83. Emptying Net or Seine upon Beach Prohibited; 
Exception ; Minimum Size Certain Fish. No person shall 
at any time empty any seine or net of any description 
whatsoever upon the beach, shore or land bordering upon 
any of the waters of this State, or in the waters bordering 
on said beach, shore or land where the water is less than 
twelve inches in depth, except that in the waters of the 
Chesapeake Bay, above Poole's Island, seines or nets may 
be landed upon the shore or upon the flats ; and no person 
shall at any time so empty any such seine or net as to 
leave to perish upon the beach, shore or land, or upon any 
boat or float, any white or yellow perch of any size less 
than seven inches in length; or any rock fish, or striped 
bass, less than ten inches in length; or any tailor of any 
size less than eight inches in length; or any pike of any 
size less than fourteen inches in length, measuring in each 
case for each one of said fish from the tip of the nose to 
the end of the caudal fin or tail ; or any sturgeon weighing 
less than twenty pounds; or any rock weighing over 
twenty pounds, in spawning season of April, May and 
June; but every person so using any seine or net of any 
description, or hook and line, shall immediately cull over 
and return to waters where same is not less than twelve 
inches deep, all of the aforesaid fish therein captured of 
any size than the aforesaid lengths, or any sturgeon weigh- 
ing less than twenty pounds ; provided, further, that noth- 
ing in this section contained shall prevent any one from 
capturing and destroying in any manner, save only by the 
way prohibited by Section 82, any German carp, or leather 
carp, or any carp of any description whatsoever, of any 
size. 

84. Prosecutions Before Justices op the Peace; 
Disposition of Fines Imposed. All justices of the peace 
of this State in and for the city or county wherein the of- 
fense shall be committed shall have jurisdiction to hear 
and determine all prosecutions for the purpose of enforc- 
ing fines and penalties collectible under the provisions of 



54 

Sections 78 to 86, and all such fines and penalties are 
hereby expressly made subject to the provisions of Section 
Chapter 293 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 
Maryland, passed at the Session of 1896; and in all ca 
where such prosecutions are begun or instituted by any 
person other than the State game warden, or one of his 
deputy game wardens of this State, and shall result in the 
collection of a fine or fines, then one-half of such fine or 
fines, after the proper court costs, or costs of the magis- 
trate in convicting the offender shall have been paid, shall 
be paid to the informer, and the other half to the school 
fund of the city or county in which said prosecution is 
conducted. It shall be unlawful for any person or per- 
sons in any manner to throw or cause to be thrown any 
slab of timber or other substance across or into any stream, 
under a penalty of two dollars ($2) for each fish so caught, 
taken or killed. 

85. Sale of Certain Fish Prohibited. No person 
shall, in this State, sell or expose for sale, or buy any 
white perch, yellow perch, rock or striped bass, tailor or 
pike under size mentioned in Section 83, or any sturgeon 
under weight as limited in said section, where the fish so 
offered for sale, or bought, contain over ten per cent, of 
fish under size or weight, whether such fish so exposed for 
sale, sold or bought shall have been caught, trapped or in 
any other manner taken or killed in the State of Maryland 
or in any other State or county, under penalty for expos- 
ing for sale, selling or buying of such fish, as provided in 
Section 83, for catching said under-size fish; but nothing 
in this section contained shall be so construed as to pre- 
vent any of the fish commissioners of this State, in pur- 
suance of their capacity as a fish culturist, or any other 
person or corporation which shall first obtain a certificate 
in writing from the State Game Warden to the effect that 
such persons or corporations are engaged in the scientific 
culture or propagation only ; and to obtain said certificate 
said persons or corporations must file with the State Game 
Warden an application and affidavit to the truth and bona 
fides thereof, made by the person or officers of the cor- 
poration requesting the same, and taken before any officer 



competent to administer an oath in this State, and said 
affidavit and application shall be retained and kept on file 
by said State Game Warden. Acts 1910, Chapter 255. 

86. Application of Fish Laws. All acts and parts of 
acts, and all sections and parts of sections of the code, both 
general and local laws, and all amendments of and addi- 
tions and supplements thereto, now in force in the State 
of Maryland inconsistent with the provisions of Sections 
78 to 86, with the exception only of Chapter 427 of the 
Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland, passed at the 
session of 1896, are hereby repealed. Acts 1916. 

87. Catfish and Eels. It shall be lawful to take cat- 
fish and eels in any of the waters of the State of Maryland 
in any manner during the months of September, October, 
November and December in each year. Acts 1910, Chap- 
ter 286. 

88. Penalties for Violation of Certain Sections. 
Any person violating any of Sections 79, 83, 85, or 95 shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof 
shall be fined the sum of twenty-five dollars nor more than 
one hundred dollars for each and every offense, and shall 
stand committed to the county jail if said fine is not paid 
for one day for each dollar of fine imposed, but not for a 
period of more than sixty days. Any deputy game warden 
or constable or informer who shall procure a conviction 
under said sections shall be entitled to the half fine re- 
ceived, and remaining half shall be paid over to the State 
Treasurer to the account of the State game protection 
fund, to be used by the State game warden for the protec- 
tion of fish in waters of the State as may be provided by 
law. 

89. Clerk's Duties to Account for Monies Received 
from Licenses, Fines, Etc. (Text omitted, see Code.) 

90. Proviso. This article shall not apply to those per- 
sons who take fish by hook or line, commonly known as 
anglers. 



56 

96. Exploding Dynamite to Catch Fish. It shall be 
unlawful to explode any dynamite or other substance of 
like explosive nature in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, 
or any of the tributaries thereof, within the limits of the 
State* of Maryland, for the purpose of taking or catching 
fish thereby. 

97. Penalties. Any person violating the provisions of 
the foregoing section, upon indictment and conviction for 
the same in any Circuit Court for the county, or Criminal 
Court of Baltimore wherein the offense may have been 
committed, shall be fined not less than three hundred dol- 
lars and the cost of prosecution; and upon failure to pay 
the same shall be confined in the House of Correction for 
not less than one year. 

98. Disposition of Fines. All fines collected under the 
two preceding sections shall be paid one-half to the in- 
former and the other half into the treasury of the State 
of Maryland. 

CHESAPEAKE BAY. 

110. *fFiSH Licenses. Any person, firm or corporation 
desiring to engage in the business of taking or catching 
fish for sale, by the use of pound nets, fykes, haul seines or 
other contrivances, except hook and line, within the waters 
of the Chesapeake Bay, below Poole's Island, and within 
the jurisdictional limits of the State of Maryland, shall 
first obtain by application to the clerk of the circuit court 
for the county wherein he may reside, or the Clerk of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Baltimore City, a license there- 
for, and such license shall have effect from the first day of 
February, in the year in which it may have been obtained, 
to the first day of February, inclusive, next succeeding; 
and provided further, that such license shall not authorize 
the taking or catching of fish, except with hook and line, 



\. t of 1914, Chapter 556, provides that for a period of ten vears 
it shall lie unlawful to catch, kill, take or have in possession anv sturgeon 
in the waters of the Chesapeake Kay or tributaries. 

fThe Act <>f 1!)14. Chapter 27ft, requires non-residents of Maryland 
to take out licenses for nets used in fishing in the waters of the Atlantic 
Ocean within the jurisdiction of Maryland in Worcester County 



57 

within the jurisdictional limits of any county or counties 
of this State. 

111. Contents of Licenses; License Fees; Excep- 
tion. Each and every license to catch or take fish for 
sale under the provisions of Section 110 shall state the 
name, age and residence of the person to whom the same 
is granted, and every applicant for such license shall pay 
to the clerk of the circuit court for the county, or the 
Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Baltimore City, 
when such license shall be granted and before the delivery 
of the same, the sum of five dollars for the first license, 
and the sum of one dollar for each and every additional 
net, haul seine or other contrivance to take or catch fish 
for sale in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, and the 
sum of two dollars for each license to take or catch fish 
for sale in the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay; the 
clerk to receive the sum of twenty-five cents for each and 
every license so issued, as a fee for issuing the same, in- 
cluding the administering of the oath when required; and 
the said amount of license received for issuing same shall 
be paid over by the clerk into the Treasury of the State 
of Maryland, to be credited to the "Oyster (now Conser- 
vation) Fund;" provided that the provisions of this sec- 
tion shall not apply to nor include purse, fyke and hoop, 
buck or gill nets, nor to hook and line, that nothing in this 
section shall apply north of a line drawn from Ricketts 
Point to Love Point. 

112. Oath Required. Every applicant for license to 
take or catch fish for sale under the provisions of this 
article, shall be required to make oath or affirmation before 
the clerk authorized to issue the same, or before some jus- 
tice of the peace, on whose certificate of the taking of such 
oath or affirmation the clerk shall issue said license, that 
"the facts set forth in said license are strictly true; that 
he has been a bona fide resident of the State of Maryland 
for the twelve months next preceding his application for 
said license, and that no non-resident of the State of 
Maryland is either directly or indirectly interested in the 
use of said pound net, fyke or haul seine or other con- 



trivance used in taking fish for sale, or any boat or vessel 
used in the prosecution of said fishing, or pound nets, 
fykes, haul seines, or other contrivances in the taking or 
catching of fish for sale." 

112-A. Special Provision for Fishing in Waters of 
Bay Within Four Miles of Shore Line of St. Mary's 
County Between Cedar Point and Point Lookout; 
License Required; Penalty. (Text omitted, see Code.) 

113. License Blanks. The Comptroller of the Treas- 
ury shall cause to be printed and delivered to the clerks 
of the circuit courts for the several counties the requisite 
number of such blank licenses, and take receipt for the 
same, and for other licenses furnished; and said clerk 
shall on the first Monday in July and December of each 
year, return to the Comptroller a list and account of such 
licenses issued by them, and at the end of each year shall 
return all unused blank licenses to him, and shall pay over 
to the Comptroller all the moneys received by them for 
such license, which amount the said Comptroller shall 
place to the credit of the "Oyster (now Conservation) 
Fund." 

114. Unlawful to Set Pound Nets, Fyke Nets, or 
Other Contrivances in Waters of Bay Below Poole's 
Island More Than One-Third Distance Across the 
Bay ; Penalties. It shall not be lawful for any person in 
taking fishing for sale by the use of pound nets, fyke nets 
or other contrivances, now known or hereafter invented, to 
set such pound nets, fyke nets or other contrivance, now 
known or hereafter invented, in waters of the Chesapeake 
Bay, within the jurisdictional limits of the State of Mary- 
land and below Poole's Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, at 
a greater length than one-third the distance across the bay* 
from low water mark on either side, and any person vio- 
lating this section shall, upon conviction thereof before 
some justice of the peace of any county of this State most 
accessible, be fined the sum of not less than twenty nor 
miore than one hundred dollars, or shall forfeit said net or 
nets, together with the boats and tackles used in the viola- 
tion of Sections 110 to 118, inclusive, of this Article, or to 



59 

be subject to both fine and forfeiture, in the discretion of 
the justice of the peace trying the same ; provided, that the 
party feeling aggrieved shall have the right of appeal as 
in other cases tried before justices of the peace; and pro- 
vided further, that in case of appeal the person appealing 
shall give to the State of Maryland a good and sufficient 
bond, covering double the amount of the fine or forfeiture, 
in case of forfeit, so as to secure to the State the amount 
of fine and forfeiture, in case he does not prosecute his ap- 
peal with effect. 

114- A. Unlawful to Set Nets of Any Description in 
Chesapeake Bay Between Drum Point and Cove Point 
Less Than Five Hundred Yards Apart or More Than 
One Hundred and Seventy-Five Yards in Length, In- 
cluding Wings, or More Than One-Fourth Distance 
Across Bay. (Text omitted, see Code.) 

115. Penalties and Forfeitures for Violation of 
Sections 110-118, Inclusive. Any person, firm or corpo- 
ration violating any of Sections 110 to 118, inclusive, of 
this Article, by the use of any pound net, fyke net, haul 
seine or other contrivances now known or hereafter in- 
vented, in the taking or catching of fish, shall, on convic- 
tion thereof before some justice of the peace of any county 
of this State most accessible, forfeit said pound net, fyke 
net, haul seine or other contrivances, now used or here- 
after invented for taking fish, together with all boats, ves- 
sels and tackle used in the violation of any of said sections, 
or fined a sum not less than fifty dollars and not more than 
one hundred dollars, or to be subject to both fine and for- 
feiture, in the discretion of the justice of the peace trying 
the case; provided the person feeling aggrieved shall have 
the right of appeal to the Circuit Court for said county, 
under the provisions of Section 114. 

116. Duties of State Fishery Force. It shall be the 
duty of the Commander of the State Fishery Force to 
command the deputies under his charge to see that the 
provisions of Sections 110 to 119, inclusive, of this article 
are not violated, and to arrest all persons found violating 
any provisions of said sections, and take the said offender 



GO 

or offenders to the nearest or most accessible justice of the 
peace of any of the counties of this State, to be dealt with 
according to law. 

117. Fines to Be Placed to Credit of Conservation 
Fund. (Text omitted, see Code.) 

118. Pound Nets and Stake Nets Prohibited in Cer- 
tain Waters. The use of pound nets or stake nets shall 
be absolutely prohibited in the Chesapeake Bay north of 
Poole's Island, except the bay shore of Kent County up to 
Howel's Point, at the mouth of Sassafras River, and also 
on the Susquehanna River (and except on the west side 
of the Chesapeake Bay from Poole's Island north to one- 
half mile north of Spesutia Island, on the west side of 
the bay, not to exceed eight hundred yards from the 
shore) ; and any person who shall engage in fishing for 
sale with the use of said pound nets, stake nets or similar 
contrivances now used or hereafter invented, in violation 

this section, shall be subject to the same fines and pen- 
alties as are prescribed in Section 114 of this article; and 
provided further, that all persons using haul seines and 
similar contrivances, except pound nets and stake nets, 
which are hereby prohibited, shall pay the same license 
and be subject to the same provisions of all sections under 
the sub-title "Chesapeake Bay," of this article, except gill 
nets, which are exempted. 

119. Sheriffs and Constables of Counties to Make 
Arrests for Violations of Sections 110-118, Inclusive; 
Forfeiture and Sale of Boat; Disposition of Proceeds. 
(Text omitted, see Code.) 

120. Exception. The provisions of Sections 110 to 
119, inclusive, shall not apply in any way to the use 
of the rod, hook and line in taking or catching fish at 
any time during the year, or gill nets for family purposes. 

121. Limits of Bay. The lines defining the headwaters 
of the Chesapeake Bay at or near the mouth of the Sus- 
quehanna River shall be defined as follows: All waters 
west and south of the following line shall be considered as 



61 

belonging to the Chesapeake Bay, to wit : A line drawn 
from Carpenter's Point, thence to Grove Point; and a 
line drawn from Grove Point to Howel's Point, but not 
to include any tributary of said bay. 

123. Threshing Fish into Nets Prohibited. It shall 
be unlawful for any person or persons to whip or beat 
the waters of any river, creek, cove, inlet or tributary 
within the limits of this State with poles, sticks, or any 
other thing, for the purpose of driving fish into thresh 
nets, seines, nets, fish-baskets, or any other contrivance for 
catching fish, and any person violating this section shall 
be subject to the fines and forfeitures prescribed by Sec- 
tion 115 of this Act. Acts 1916, Chapter 554. 

Acts 1917, Chapter 10, authorizes the Conservation Com- 
mission of Maryland to construct and maintain two modern 
fish hatcheries, one for the propagation of salt water fish 
and the other for fresh water fish. 

PISH HATCHERIES. 

Acts 1917, Chapter 10, provides that the Conservation 
Commission of Maryland is empowered to construct two 
modern fish hatcheries, one for propagation of salt-water 
or anadromous fish and the other for the propagation of 
fresh- water fish. 

TERRAPIN. 

(Code, Article 92.) 

1. Closed Season; Counties Excepted. It shall be 
unlawful for any person to take or catch or have in pos- 
session in this State any terrapin between the first day of 
April and the first day of November in each year ; the term 
terrapin to apply to those known as diamondback or salt- 
water terrapin, skilpot and sliders. This section shall not 
apply to Worcester, Somerset, Dorchester, Calvert, Charles, 
Wicomico and St. Mary's Counties. 



G2 

2. Closed Season in Other Counties. It shall be un- 
lawful for any person to take or catch or have in pos- 
session in this State any terrapin of a less size than five 
inches in length on the bottom shell, and no person shall 
take or catch any diamondback or salt-water terrapin 
between the first day of May and the first day of July in 
each year. This section to apply to Worcester, Dorchester, 
Wicomico and Somerset Counties; and provided that any 
bona fide dealer or dealers may have terrapin in their pos- 
session during said closed season. 

3. Terrapin Eggs. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
son to interfere with or iii any manner destroy terrapin 
eggs. 

4. Who May Catch Terrapin. None but bona fide 
residents of this State shall take or catch terrapin therein, 

5. Penalties. Any person violating any of the pre- 
ceding sections shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor 
and upon conviction thereof before a justice of the peace 
of this State shall be fined not less than five nor more 
than ten dollars for each terrapin so taken or held in 
possession, or for destroying such eggs ; and the terrapin so 
held in possession shall be confiscated and returned by the 
officer making the arrest to the public natural waters for 
terrapin; one-half of all such fines to go to the informer 
and the balance to the game warden. 

6. Evidence. The possession by any person of terrapins 
between the first day of April and the first day of Novem- 
ber shall be conclusive evidence of violation of this article. 

7. Who May Arrest. The constable, game warden and 
officers of the State Fishery Force shall, upon informa- 
tion of any one, arrest any person or persons violating the 
provisions of this article and take them before the nearest 
justice of the peace to be dealt with in accordance to the 
provisions of Section 5. 



63 

PART III. 
LOCAL LAWS. 

GAME AND FISH 

Arranged according to Comities in Alphabetical order. 

ALLEGANY COUNTY. 

Pish. 
Acts of 1918, Chapter 327. 

Sec. 122. Unlawful to fish in any waters of Allegany 
County with any seines, nets or weirs or other implements, 
except as hereinafter provided, from December 1 to June 
15 ; provided that it shall be lawful to catch suckers with 
a dip net. the mesh of which must be not less than one inch 
square, or with rod and line and single hook, during the 
period from February 15 to April 15, inclusive ; provided 
further, that from June 15 to December 1, inclusive, it 
shall be lawful to take and catch with a dip net, seine or 
rod and line, minnoAvs or small fish for live bait. Nothing 
herein contained to prevent propagation of game fish. 
(Note. — This section permits bass fishing during the entire 
spawning season.) 

Sec. 122-A. Unlawful to take bass under seven inches, 
pike under 14 inches, white or yellow perch under eight 
inches, trout under six inches, fall fish under seven inches, 
or catfish under six inches. (See Article 39, Section 79, 
of the Code of Public General Laws.) 

Sec. 122-B. Unlawful to fish or take fish from any of 
following streams in said county until April 15, 1920: 
Mill Creek, Mill Run, Warrior's Run, Rock Gully Creek, 
Battle Run, Dickenson Run, Marley's Branch, North 
Branch of Jenning's Run, Woodcock Hollow Run and 
Laurel Run. 



64 

Sec. L22-D. Unlawful to take Erogs from the waters of 
said county, except from July 1 to October 1, nor to have 
more than eight frogs in possession at any one time. 

122-E. Provides a fine of $5.00 to $20.00., and 
#1.00 additional for each fish or frog illegally taken. 

Sec. 122-F. Non-resident of the State must obtain a 
license to fish in waters of said county. Apply to Clerk of 
the Circuit Court. Oakland,. Md. ; cost, $5.00. Non-resident 
land own. is can fish on their own lands without a license. 
Penalty.. $25 to $50. 

Game. 

Acts 1916, Chapter 282. 

Sec. 12-B. No person shall expose for sale, sell alive 
or dead any of the above mentioned game at any time in 
Allegany County (rabbits excepted). This does not apply 
to game for the purposes of propagation or for stocking; 
nor shall this apply to any licensed hunter in said county 
who shall have game in his possession that was killed by 
him in the lawful season of another county or State, pro- 
vided such person has a license from said county or said 
State and has a right under their laws to bring game from 
said county or State, and provided that said hunter notifies 
in writing the Secretary of the Board of Game Wardens 
of Allegany County on the date after he returns that he 
has brought into said county such game, a list of which he 
shall furnish and also the place where killed and the num- 
ber of his hunting license. 

Sec. 12-C. Unlawful for any person to destroy or dis- 
turb the nests, eggs or young of the birds mentioned in 
this Act. 

Secs. 13-A, 13-B, 13-C, 14-B, 15-A and 15-C. Relate to 
local hunting license and the appointment of the Board of 
Game Wardens, and are repealed by Chapter 468, Acts 
1918. 

Sic. 1 :»-!'». Permits the Board of Game Wardens for 
Allegany County and all State Game Wardens to make 
arrests and search without a warrant any person whom 
they suspect of any violation, and exempts them from all 



65 

liability on account of any arrest or trespass made during 
the discharge of their duties. 

Sec. 15-D. No person shall shoot, hurt, take, catch or 
kill or have in possession in said county any raccoon or 
possum from April 1st to September 1st. 

Sec. 15-E. No person in said county shall set any trap, 
deadfall, pitfall, snare, steel trap or other device for the 
taking or trapping of any birds or game mentioned in this 
Act ; nor shall anyone have in his or her possession any 
ferret or ferrets. 

Sec. 15-G-. Unlawful to ship for the purpose of selling 
any of the birds mentioned in this Act, and unlawful for 
?ny express or transportation company to ship or accept 
for shipment any of the birds mentioned in this Act for 
the purpose of selling. Any express or transportation 
company shall refuse to accept any game, or package con- 
taining game, unless contents and name of shipper are 
plainly marked thereon. 

Sec. 15-H. Unlawful to hunt, pursue or kill any of the 
birds or game mentioned in this Act on Sunday. A prima 
facie case if person is found in the fields or woods with 
a gun on Sunday. 

Sec. 15-1. Unlawful in said county to shoot at or kill 
any pheasant or partridge while it is sitting or while on 
the ground. 

Sec. 15-J. Unlawful for dogs to run at large in said 
county during the months of April, May, June. July and 
August, and to pursue, kill, harm, destroy, catch or take 
any bird or animal mentioned in this Act, or destroy the 
eggs, nests or young of any such birds or animals. Any 
person harboring a dog shail be deemed the owner thereof. 

Sec. 15-K. Unlawful to hunt upon the lands of any 
person in said county without written permission obtained 
from the owner, tenant or person in possession. 

Sec. 16-D. Unlawful to interfere with any deputy game 
warden in the discharge of his duties, or to resist arrest or 
search. 

Sec. 16-E. Provides a penalty of not less than $20.00, 
nor more than $50.00, for the violation of any provision of 
this Act. 

Sec. 17-B. Provides that all fines shall be turned over to 



CO 

the Treasurer of the Board of Game Wardens of said 
county, but this is repealed, and one-half of the fine goes 
to the State Treasurer to the account of the State Game 
Protection Fund. 

Sec. 18-A. Repeals all inconsistent laws herewith. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 616. 

Sec. 18. Provides a bounty of $2.00 for every wild eat 
destroyed, $1.00 for every fox, and 50 cents for every 
hawk or hoot owl. 

Sec. 19. In order to obtain these bounties one must be 
a resident, take the hawk or owl, or hide with head at- 
tached of fox and wild eat, before a Justice of Peace and 
make oath that same was killed in said county and that 
lie is a resident of the county. 

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY. 

Game. 
Acts 1918, Chapter 409. 

Provides an open season on woodcock in Anne Arundel 
County from June 10 to August 10. This is, of course, 
contrary to the Federal Law, besides at this early opening 
date the birds are hardly old enough to fly. 

Raccoon. 
Acts 1916, Chapter 367. 

Sections 58 and .">!). Article 99, Maryland Code, adds 
thereto two new sections to follow Section 59 of said 
Article and to be known as 59-A and 59-B. 

59-A. Unlawful for any person or persons to trap, catch 
or kill any raccoon within Anne Arundel or Prince 
George's County between sunrise and sunset, or have the 
same in his possession if trapped, caught or killed between 
the first day of February and the first day of October in 
each year. Also unlawful for any person to cut a tree 
at any time for the purpose of catching or dislodging a 
raccoon. 



67 

59-B. Provides a penalty for the violation of same of 
not less than $10.00 or more than $25.00. 

Note. — Open season on squirrels in this county is Novem- 
ber 10 to December 21, inclusive, according to legal opinion 
of Attorney-General of Maryland. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 663. 

Prescribes season for ortolan, sora, rail bird or reed bird 
in Anne Arundel County, or upon the marshes of the 
Patuxent, Potomac or Patapsco Elvers from September 1st 
to November 1st. 

Note. — This Act was approved April 10, 1914, while 
the Patuxent River Act was approved April 13th, 1914, 
and repeals this Act as to the Patuxent River. 

Blinds on South River. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 189. 

An Act regulating building blinds in South River. 

Sec. 1. Unlawful to erect any booby blind or brush 
blind between Turkey Point and Sanders Point on the 
southwest side of South River, or between Marsh Point 
and Hills' Point on the northeast side of said river without 
obtaining an annual license for said blind from Clerk Cir- 
cuit Court. 

Sec. 2. Fee for such license shall be $2.50. 

Sec. 3. Unlawful for any person to establish a blind 
or other obstruction after said blind has been licensed at 
a point nearer to said licensed blind than 300 yards, and 
it shall be unlawful for any person to put out decoys 
within 300 yards of said blind and shoot over them from 
the natural shores. 

Sec. 4. No blind so licensed shall be put over 300 yards 
from shore in a direct line. 

Sec. 5. Fine of $10 to $25 for each and every violation. 

Contains a repealing clause. 

All blinds must be 150 yards from shore. Act of 1906, 
Chapter 301, p. 548. 

All blinds on Anne Arundel County rivers must be at 
least 300 yards apart. See Act 1892. Chapter 582. 



68 

Fish. 
Acts 1918, Chapter 312. 

Section 212, Melvin's Code of Public Local Laws of 
A lino Arundel County. Shall be unlawful to set, place, 
struct or use in the waters of South River and tributar- 
ies above Saunders Point on the south side and Marsh 
Point on the north side any pound net or other similar 
device, nor shall it be lawful to put, place, set, construct 
or use in any creek or tributary of South River any fyke 
net or other stationary net or trap, not including, how- 
ever, gill nets, nor to put, place, set, construct or use any 
seine, drag net, trap, gill net or any device for the catching 
of fish during February, March and April in the head- 
waters of South River from a line drawn from Howard's 
Point on the west side to Briar Bottom on the east side, 
and in the headwaters of Beard's Creek, and a line drawn 
from Holliday's Point on the north side and Sparrows 
Landing on the south side, and in the headwaters of Broad 
Creek from a line drawn from Marsh Haul Branch on the 
north side and Big Rock Haul Point on the south side, nor 
in the headwaters of any of the creeks of South River for 
a distance of 100 yards from the head thereof. Fine upon 
conviction before any justice of the peace of the county not 
less than $5.00 nor more than $20.00 for each offense. 

Acts 1916, Chapter 581. 

Section 1. Unlawful to fish in the Severn River or any 
creek, cove, tributary or inlet thereof, or to take fish from 
such waters with any seine, or net, or instrument of any 
kind except hook and line. Fine $20.00 to $50.00. 

Sec. 2. Line drawn from Greenbury Point to the ex- 
treme end of Horn Point shall mark the mouth of the 
Severn River and this law shall apply to all the waters of 
said river and its tributaries above this line. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 627. 

Section 1. Unlawful to fish in Fork Creek with any 
seine, net, weir or other implement or instrument for catch- 
ing fish, other than hook and line, and any person who 



69 

shall violate the provisions of this Act within five years 
shall be fined not less than $50 for each offense. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 612. 

Sec. 155-B. Provides that anyone who violates any 
provision of two sections preceding Section 155-B, or who 
shall expose for sale in Anne Arundel County any white 
perch under seven inches, any yellow perch under eight 
inches or any rock under ten inches, shall be arrested, and 
the boat, seine or other apparatus shall be seized and 
offender shall' be fined $5 to $50. One-fourth of fine goes 
to constable or sheriff making arrest and one-fourth to in- 
former; other half to Board of County Commissioners for 
school purposes. In default of payment of fine, the seized 
apparatus shall be condemned and sold to pay said fine 
and costs. Hand bills announcing sale must be posted ten 
days previous to sale at place of seizure, court house door 
and market house at Annapolis, unless owner appear within 
five days of such posting and redeem the seized property 
by payment of fines, etc., the property must be sold. 

Provides for appeal to Circuit Court and also provides 
that 5 per cent, of undersized fish is permissible. That is, 
any person offering fish for sale can legally have in pos- 
session at least five undersized fish in every 100. 

Note.- — This bill, where it conflicts with the State Fish 
Bill, takes precedence over same. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 700. 

Section 1. Unlawful to fish in Fork Creek, a tributary 
of Magothy River, in any way except with hook and line. 
Any person violating this Act within a period of five 
years shall be fined not less than $50 for each offense. 

BALTIMORE COUNTY. 

Game. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 397. 

Adds Section 8-A to Article 3 of the Code of Public 
Local Laws of Maryland. Provides for a closed season 
of two years from June 1st, 1918, on ring-neck or English 



70 

pheasants in Baltimore County. For the violation thereof 
any person convicted shall be fined the sum of $10.00 for 
the first bird taken, or had in possession, and the sum 
of $20.00 for each and every bird thereafter. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 335. 

Repeals Section 110 of Article 3 of Code of 1908, Public 
Local Laws; sub-title, "Dogs." 

Note. — This was passed to allow dog- kennels to be 
placed within one mile of Baltimore City on account of 
the Elkridge Hunting Club. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 317. 

Any person or persons who shall shoot at or shoot a fox 
that is being pursued by dog or dogs, or in any manner 
take from any den a female fox or her young whelps, or kill 
any such, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and 
shall be tined not less than $25.00 nor more than $50.00 
for each offense. Half of the tine goes to the informer the 
other half to the Board of County School Commissioners. 
Nothing in this Article to be construed to prevent the 
killing of foxes at any time by any person while they are 
in pursuit of poultry, provided that the killing of said 
foxes be done within a reasonable time after such pur- 
suit or killing. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 338. 

Sec. 5. Unlawful to destroy or disturb the nest, egg or 
young of any of the birds mentioned in preceding sections. 

Sec. 8. No person shall shoot, or kill, or take, or have 
in possession any rabbit, pheasant or partridge between 
December 20th and November 10th, exclusive of both dates - y 
or upon Sunday, or election day, or when ground is cov- 
ered with snow. Fine, $5.00 for each offense, and $5.00 
additional for every bird or animal illegally taken. 

Sec. 9. No person, corporation or transportation com- 
pany shall buy, sell, have in possession, or offer for sale 
for the purpose of export from Baltimore County, or ex- 
port from, or carry out of said county, any rabbit, pheas- 
ant, partridge, dove or woodcock. 



71 

Sec. 11. Unlawful to permit dogs to run at large during 
the closed season and pursue, kill, harm, destroy or take 
any bird or animal, the eggs, nests or young. Fine, $5.00 
and cost. Except, however, the owner of dogs shall be per- 
mitted to run or train same between September 1st and 
November 9th, but he must accompany them and must 
not carry a gun. 

Sec. 13. All deputy game wardens and state game 
wardens are empowered to make arrests and search with- 
out a warrant any person suspected of violating this Act 
and are hereby expressly exempted from liability therefor. 

Sec. 11. Provides a bounty of 50 cents for every hawk, 
owl or weasel taken in the county by a resident. 

Secs. 15 and 16. Provide the manner in which said 
bounty shall be procured. 

Secs. IT to 17-J. Relate to county license and are re- 
pealed. Acts of 1918, Chapter 468.' 

Sec. 17-L. No person shall shoot, kill, pursue or have in 
possession any raccoon or opossum from February 28th 
to October 1st, exclusive of both dates, or when the ground 
is covered with a tracking snow. 

Sec. 17-M. No person shall set any trap, deadfall or 
other device for the taking of wild animals between Decem- 
ber 20th and November 10th, inclusive ; provided, however, 
chief game warden may issue a permit to set not more than 
ten traps or other devices for the purpose of taking minks, 
weasels, skunk, raccoon, fox, muskrat or opossum. 

Sec. 17-N. Nothing in this Act to be construed to pre- 
vent persons having game in possession during the closed 
season for propagation on a permit issued by the chief 
game warden. 

Fish. 

Acts 1916, Chapter 319. 

Unlawful for non-residents to haul, or to seine, or fish 
with gill nets, tikes, traps or set nets of any kind in any 
of the creeks, coves, branches and tributaries of Middle 
River other than in the river proper without written per- 
mission of the owners or occupiers of the shores. Fine, 
imprisonment for not more than six months, or $100 
fine, or both in discretion of court, 



72 

Chapter 144, Baltimore Count}. Section 2. Unlawful 
for any person to fish with hook and line from any boat 
in the 'waters of Back River, Seneca Creek, Seneca River, 
Salt Petre River, Middle River and their tributaries from 
the first of November to the first of February. Fine, 
$1(1.00 to $30.00 for each 

3. Provisions of this Act shall not apply to Middle 
River lying north of a line drawn from Clark's Point on 
E. Levy's shore to the Maryland Yacht Club point, and 
that part of Dark Head lying north of the line drawn 
due east from the Maryland Yacht Club point to Bull Neck 
shore, and that part of Frog Mortar lying north of a line 
drawn from West Point on .lames Hughes' shore to Weis- 
kcttle's landing and to Normans Creek and Stansburys 
Creek, all tributaries of said Middle River; and to that 
portion of Back River lying west of a line drawn from 
the end of the wharf on ( iherry Grove Farm to Stansburys 
Point, and to that portion of Seneca Creek lying west of 
a line drawn from Gun Point on the north to Flying Point 
on the south side of said creek, and that part of Sue's 
Creek southwest of a line drawn from the northeasternmost 
point of Sue's Island to Turkey Point. 

Sec. 4. Unlawful for any person -to catch or take, or at- 
tempt to catch, fish by gigging or spearing in the waters 
of Back River, Seneca Creek, Seneca River, Salt Petre 
River and Middle River and their tributaries in Baltimore 
County at any time. Fine $10.00 to $30.00 for each 
offense. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 104. 

Unlawful to fish with gill nets, trap or set nets of any 
kind, or haul seines in the waters of Middle River, Balti- 
more County, west of a line drawn from Clay Bank on 
Turkey Point shore southeasterly to the northeasternmost 
point on Sues Island, and thence in a line running south- 
erly to a marked Rock Oak tree standing on the north side 
of Holly Neck Farm; and it is also unlawful to fish with 
gill nets, traps or set nets of any kind or haul seines in 
Sues Creek * * * west of said line. 

Penalty not less than $25.00 nor more than $100.00. 
One-half of fine to informer. 



It is unlawful to fish with hook and line in Dundee 
Creek from November 1st to February 1st. 

Penalty, fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than 
$100.00. Acts 1914, Chapter 340. 

Chapter 136, Acts 1912, makes it a misdemeanor to 
catch or take fish in any kind of a device for catching fish, 
hook and line excepted, in Dundee Creek, Baltimore 
County, west of a line drawn from Levering 's Point to 
Marshy Point. Fine not more than $100, and $10 addi- 
tional for each day net is left in water. 

Chapter 735. Acts 1912, refers to the territory in which 
fishing with hook and line is permitted under Section 249, 
Chapter 495, Acts 1908, in tributaries of Middle and Back 
Rivers, from April 1 to October 10, straightens out the un- 
intelligible language of the old law, and adds Sue's Creek 
to the territory where fishing with hook and line is per- 
mitted at all times. 

CAROLINE COUNTY. 

Buzzards. 
Acts 1918, Chapter 94. 

Provides that Section 28 of Article 99, so far as the same 
prohibits the shooting or killing of turkey buzzards shall 
not apply within the limit of any incorporated town in 
Caroline or Talbot Counties, thereby making it lawful to 
kill such birds birds in such towns. 

Acts 1916, Chapter 450. 

Repeals Chapter 788 of Acts of 1906. Makes it unlaw- 
ful to kill any manner any fox in Caroline and Carroll 
Counties except, when same is destroying poultry, or killed 
by hounds in a hunt, Fine not less than $25.00 nor more 
than $50.00. 

Fish. 

Public Local Laws, Article 6, Section 140. Unlawful for 
persons other than resident voters of Caroline, Dorchester 
and Talbot Counties to take fish in the waters of said 
counties. See also Sections 142 to 146. 



74 

CECIL COUNTY. 
Game. 

Acts 1916, Chapter 383. 

Sec. 387. No person shall gun for wild water fowl 
northward of a line described in Section 380, but three 
days a week to January 1, during open season as fixed by 
Section 381 and three days prior to January 1. shall be 
Monday, Wednesday and Friday; on and after January 1 
they shall be Monday. Wednesday. Friday and Saturday ; 
each of said days shall be one hour before sunrise to sunset. 
Fine, $50.00 to $100.00. See Harford County, Acts 1918. 
Chapter 89. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 39. 

Prohibits shooting, trapping or killing in any manner 
of muskrats between [March 1st and December 1st. 

Also prohibits taking muskrats in any manner, except 
"by trapping." 

Penalty, $10.00 fine. 

Unlawful to gun for wild water fowl or shoot at or 
kill north of the line described in Section 380 (which line 
is as follows: -North of Turkey Point lighthouse in Cecil 
County and drawn westward to a point one-half a mile 
north of the northerly part of Spesutia Island, thence con- 
tinuing said line westward within one-half a mile of and 
north of the northern end of said island and the adjacent 
mainland and until it reaches the shore in Harford County 
at or near Oakington), but three days in each week until 
the first day of January during the season for shooting 
* * those clays being Monday. Wednesday and Fri- 
day, and after January 1st on Monday, Wednesday, Friday 
and Saturday. 

Penalty for violation, fine $50.00 and not more than 
<1 O0.00 

Lawful to anchor any sink box, sneak boat or any other 
vessel or craft on the waters north of the line named in 
Section 380 after 4.30 P. M. on gunning days. 

Penalty for violation, fine of $50.00 to $100.00. 



75 

Power boats are required to muffle their exhausts so as 
not to disturb water fowl. 

Penalty for violation, fine of $25.00 to $50.00. One-half 
of fine goes to officer making arrest and other half to party 
assisting. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 619. 

See also State season law and Federal regulations. 

Under the Act of 1914, Chapter 464, it is unlawful to be 
upon premises of another with a trap, snare or human de- 
vice for catching fur-bearing animals, without the written 
permission of the owner. 

Penalty, fine of not more than $20.00 nor less than 
$10.00. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 449. 

(These ducks, however, cannot be killed in Elk River 
below a straight line drawn across the river from Plum 
Point to Locust Point, nor beyond the mouth of any of 
small creeks flowing into said river ; nor shall said ducks 
1)0 shot from any boat, vessel or craft of any kind.) 

It shall further be unlawful for any person or corpora- 
tion to sell, offer or expose for sale, or take out of Cecil 
County in any manner any game mentioned in this sec- 
tion at any time, excepting rail birds, reed birds, black- 
birds,snipe, rabbits or ducks. Blackbirds may be killed at 
any season flying over or feeding upon grain fields. 

Provides that it shall be a part of the duty of Cecil 
County constables to assist iu enforcing the provisions of 
this Act, and their official bond shall stand for their faith- 
ful performance of this duty. 

Sec. 38-C. Makes it unlawful to hunt, shoot, trap or 
kill any birds or game mentioned in Act when there is 
sufficient snow on the ground to see tracks of same, and 
suspends the open season during such time when snow is 
on the ground. 

Sec. 38-D. Provides that a person violating any of pro- 
visions of Act shall be deemed guilty of a common nuis- 
ance and upon conviction before any Cecil County justice 
of peace shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $25 
in each and every case or offense. For failure to pay fine 
shall be committed to jail for not more than 30 clays. 



76 

Sec. 38-E. Unlawful to shoot on election day held in the 
month of November. 

38-F. Requires the Circuit Court for Cecil County 
to call attention of the Act to the Grand Jury at the reg- 
ular sessions of said court. 

Especially exempts the Susquehanna Flats from pro- 
visions of this Act. Contains a repealing clause. See Har- 
ford County for laws of 1918, Chapter 92, in relation to 
Susquehanna Flats. 

Note. — Local Fish Law permits pound net fishing in 
Elk, Sassafras and Bohemia Rivers from August 1 to 
June 10. 

CALVERT COUNTY. 

Game. 

Acts 1894, Chapter 586. 

Citizens of Calvert County shall have the same privilege 
of shooting on the Patuxent River as citizens of Anne 
Arundel and Prince George's Counties. 

Acts 1902, Chapter 493. 

Unlawful to ship or attempt to ship out of county, or to 
sell for purpose of shipping, any rabbit, partridge or wood- 
cock taken in the county. 

See also "Patuxent River." 

Acts 1918, Chapter 409. 

Squirrel season in said county, November 10 to Decem- 
ber 24, according to opinion' of Attorney-General of Mary- 
land. 

CHARLES COUNTY. 

Game. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 432. 

No. person- or corporation shall at any time kill or ex- 
pose for sale, transport or have in possession anv partridge 
or quail, woodcock or rabbits, after the same has been 
killed withm Charles County for anv purpose, except for 



77 

consumption or food within Charles County; nor kill, ex- 
pose for sale, or have in possession any of the above- 
named game with the intention of sending or transporting, 
or having the same sent or transported out of said county. 
Provided nothing herein contained shall prevent the bar- 
ter or sale of such game by the person or persons who trap, 
catch, shoot or kill such game directly to the consumer 
within Charles County ; and also nothing herein contained 
shall prevent non-residents of the State who have taken out 
a license to hunt in said county from taking with them 
out of said county any of the above-named game which 
they may have killed within the limits thereof. 

Muskrats. 
Acts 1914, Chapter 362. 

Prohibits all persons from shooting muskrats in Nanje- 
mov Creek and tributaries with a light. Penalty for viola- 
tion, $10 to $20. 

CARROLL COUNTY. 

Game. 
Acts 1914, Chapter 187. 

It is unlawful to buy, barter, sell or offer for sale, ship 
or export from Carroll County any partridge, quail, pheas- 
ant, dove, squirrel or woodcock. 

Bona fide guests of land owners may take as personal 
baggage, exposed to view, 10 partridges or quail, 3 pheas- 
ants, 12 squirrels, 6 woodcock and 12 dove; or a non- 
resident, under a license, may carry away with him the 
same number of pieces of game for his own use, but not 
for sale. 

Penalty for violation, fine of not less than $1.00 or more 
than $5.00 for each piece of game bought or sold. 

For Fox Law, see Caroline County, Acts 1916, Chapter 
450. 

For Fish Law, see Frederick County, Acts 1912, Chap- 
ter 634. 



DORCHESTER COUNTY. 

Game. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 117. 

Provides that the season for quail, partridge, rabbit and 
woodcock shall be from the tenth day of November to the 
first day of January; and the squirrel season from the 
first day of September to the first day of January ; and the 
dove season from the fif tenth day of August to the first 
day of January ; and woodcock from the first day of 
August to the first day of January. This law takes prece- 
dence over the State-wide Upland Game Season, as it was 
signed by the Governor after ( Chapter 409. It merely ex- 
tends the open season from December 24th to January 1st. 

Note. — Federal Law has closed the season on wood-duck 
until September 1, 1920. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 123. 

Provides that it shall be unlawful to hunt or kill or 
have in possession any raccoon in said county between 
March 15th and November 10th, both days excluded. Upon 
conviction before either justice of the peace or the Circuit 
Court the violator shall be fined not less than $25.00; to 
be enforced by the game Warden of the State or county. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 440. 

Section 35-D, of Public Local Laws, Aticle 10. No per- 
son shall hunt any quail, partridge or rabbit during any 
closed season with dog or gun, and no person shall hunt 
or kill any quail, partridge, woodcock, dove, squirrel or 
rabbit with dog or gun on Sunday. No person shall shoot 
or catch any such animals and birds when snow is on the 
ground, except, however, an owner or owners of dog or 
dogs, between October 25th and November 9th, exclusive of 
both days, shall be permitted to run or train his dog or 
dogs, provided he accompanies them, but in so doing he 
shall not be hunting or permitted to carry a gun. Any 
person or persons who shall permit or harbor any dog to 
remain on or about his or their premises shall be deemed 



79 

the owner of such dog or dogs. Penalty, $25.00 to $100.00 
and costs. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 278. 

Sec. 34-A-l. Unlawful for any person to shoot, trap, 
catch, kill or hunt for any English or Mongolian pheasant, 
Bohemian partridge, Hungarian partridge or ruffed grouse 
until the opening of the lawful gunning season of the year 
1920. 

Sec. 34-A-2. Unlawful in Dorchester County for any 
person to sell or offer to sell for the purposes of reselling 
any of the game birds enumerated in the foregoing section, 
or of any quail or rabbit whatsoever that it may be lawful 
to hunt for or kill during the legal open season. Also 
unlawful for any person, partnership or corporation to 
resell any part of the body or bodies of the aforesaid birds 
and animals. Provided, however, nothing herein shall be 
construed to prevent any person, firm, partnership or cor- 
poration from having in possession any of above mentioned 
for the purpose of preservation and propagation, and 
nothing herein shall prevent the person who shall first 
kill or catch any quail or rabbit from selling same, if sold, 
not to be resold. 

Game. 
Acts 1912, Chapter 219. 

Provides that no shipment of game, except ducks, can be 
made out of the county, but persons can carry out as per- 
sonal baggage, and not for sale, 12 partridges, 6 rabbits, 6 
woodcock, 6 squirrels and 6 doves. Prohibits the killing of 
any game with gun too large to be handled from the shoul- 
der. Makes it unlawful to trap at any time any waterfowl, 
quail, woodcock, dove or squirrel, or have in possession any 
trap for such purpose. And no person shall at any time 
molest any eggs or nests of herein mentioned birds. Illegal 
to hunt quail or rabbit with dogs during closed season. 

Fine. $10 per bird or animal shipped, had in possession 
or killed contrary to law. 

Twenty-five dollars to one hundred dollars fine for use 
of big gun and confiscation of gun ; $5.00 fine for hunting 



80 

with dog or gun in closed season. Unlawful to shoot above 
»ame on Sunday or when snow is on the ground. 

.Justices of peace and Circuit Court have concurrent jur- 
isdiction. Approved April 8th. 

Acts 1912, Chapter 363. 

Makes it unlawful to catch fish in Chicacomico River, 
Dorchester County, with a haul seine. Fine, $20.00 to 
$50.00 and costs. 

\Vild Fowl. 
Acts 1914, Chapter 767. 

Citizens of Hooper's Island or Election District No. 6 
may shoot wild fowl from sink boats or sink boxes in 
Honga River and Tar Bay — that part of Tar Bay north 
of a. line drawn from the southern end of the bridge be- 
tween the Upper and Middle Hooper's Island due west 
until it strikes the Barren Island Bar. 

Citizens of the Neck or Election District No. 8 may erect, 
set or maintain booby blinds, stake blinds or similar artifi- 
cial blinds on a line drawn from Mills Point in a north- 
eastward direction in the waters of Brannocks or Trippes 
Bay to the southeast corner of what is known as the Great 
Flats, and from thence to what is known as Weir Point or 
Orchard Marsh, said blinds to be not less than 300 yards 
apart. 

All citizens of Dorchester County may, in the waters of 
said county, use blinds (except in the waters last above 
mentioned) 300 yards from the natural shore and 500 
yards apart. License for same (issued by the Clerk of the 
Circuit Court), $5.00. 

Penalty, fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than 
$100.00. 

MUSKRATS. 

Acts 1912, Chapter 46. 

Prohibits the trapping, shooting or killing any muskrats 
or otter in Dorchester County between April 1, 1912, and 
January 1, 1913, or between March 15, and January 1, 



81 

each and eveiy year after 1912. This is Section 188, 
Article 10, Public Local Laws, for which Article see for 
penalty for violation of this Section. 

Crows. 
Acts 1910, Chapter 167. 

Section 1. Provides that any person killing a crow in 
Dorchester County shall be entitled to a bounty of five 
cents for each crow. 

Sec. 2. Must produce head before a justice of peace and 
make oath that same was killed within county, and he shall 
then issue a certificate stating same and shall destroy the 
head. 

Sec. 3. Provides the power for the County Commission- 
ers to pay the bounty. 

Fish. 
Acts 1910, Chapter 541. 

Sec. 185-F. The owner or occupier of land on either 
side of Transquakin River or any tributary thereof within 
a line drawn from Irish Creek to Transquakin Point to 
the head of the river shall have the exclusive right to select 
half the area covered by said waters in front of the prop- 
erty extending to, but not beyond, the middle of said river, 
for the purpose of setting nets of any kind or description, 
provided that any resident of said county other than the 
owner or occupant may demand in writing that he or they 
intend to set any nets, and upon receipt of such notice the 
owner or occupant must give said applicant a definite 
answer in fifteen days, and forthwith proceed to exercise 
the right to set said nets. Upon failure to do so the resi- 
dent giving the notice shall have the right to set such nets 
in said area, provided, however, that fike nets, trap or set 
nets shall not be less than 200 yards apart. 

Sec. 185-G. Provides a fine of not more than $50.00. 



Acts 1912, Chapter 363. 
Unlawful to use haul seine or take fish with seine, or 
have it in the waters of Ohicacomico River. Fine, $20.00 
to $:>o.oo. 

Arts 1910, Chapter 518. 

An Act to repeal Section 173 of Article 10, Public Local 
Lines, to re-enact with amendments. 

Sec. 173. Unlawful for any person not bona fide resi- 
dent of Dorchester County to fish with seines, gill nets, 
fykes, traps, pound nets or set nets of any kind in any 
waters of Dorchester County. 

Northing herein to prevent residents of Talbot County 
from fishing in waters of Choptank River that are not 
used in common by residents of Talbot and Dorchester, or 
residents of Wicomico from fishing in waters of Nanticoke 
River onw used in common. And nothing in this Act to 
apply to waters of Tangier Sound within limits of Som- 
erset. 

, Note. — No penalty provided in this Act, but Section 174 
Public Local Laws. Article 10, provides a penalty for viola- 
tion of Section 173 of $5.00 to $50.00, and forfeiture of 
seine, boat and other apparatus which covers it. 

Unlawful to use gill or gilling nets in the waters of 
Pishing Bay or Transquakin River north of a line drawn 
from Blaekwater Point to Irish Creek, up the Transquakin 
River to Destroys Creek, or to set or fish weirs or other 
nets more than 300 yards from the shore, etc. 

It is also unlawful for a non-resident to set any net or 
weir in any of said waters. 

Sec Ads 101.1, Chapter 316. 

Unlawful to fish in Blaekwater River with any trap, 
the use of which is lawful, of less than three-inch mesh. 
Penalty, fine not less than $10.00 nor more than $100.00. 

Unlawful to use a haul seine or seine of anv description, 

See Acts 1914, Chapter 316. 
or put net in Transquakin River and its tributaries, White 
Hall Creek, Hursts Creek, Shoal ('reek and Jenkins Creek. 

Penalty, fine of not less than $"25.00 nor more than 
$100.00. See Acts 1914, Chapter 347. 

See also Caroline Countv. 



83 

FKEDERICK COUNTY. 

Game. 
Acts 1916, Chapter 404. 

Sec. 9. Unlawful to trap, shoot or take in any manner 
any ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasant, wild turkey or 
rabbit in said county between the twenty-fourth day of 
December and the tenth day of November; nor upon any 
Sunday, or election day, or when the ground is covered 
with snow; or any snipe between May 1st and September 
1st. Unlawful to snare or trap any partridge, pheasant or 
rabbit. Unlawful to sell at any time in Frederick County, 
or offer for sale, or ship out of said county, either directly 
or indirectly, any partridge, pheasant, squirrel, woodcock 
or snipe taken in said county. Unlawful to set any trap 
for muskrat, skunk, fox, raccoon, mink or possum between 
March 1st and November 15th; also unlawful to sell any 
rabbit taken in said county. 

Sec. 10. Relates to local hunting license and is re- 
pealed by Acts 1918, Chapter 468. 

Sec. 11. Unlawful to take or have in possession in any 
one day more than eight rabbits, ten squirrels, two jack- 
snipes, three pheasants or five woodcock. Fine, $5.00 for 
each bird or animal killed in excess of said limit. 

Sec. 12. Possession of any birds or animals mentioned in 
Section 9 shall be prima facie evidence that the same was 
taken in said county. 

Sec. 13. Any person violating Section 9 sliall be fined 
not less than $10.00 nor more than $50.00 

Sec. 14. Unlawful to hunt or trap on any land in Fred- 
erick County, except timber lands not enclosed, without 
written permission to do so. Fine, $10.00 to $100.00. 

Sec. 15. All game wardens, constables and the sheriff 
are authorized to arrest without warrant, and they arc em- 
powered to search and demand the opening of any box, 
game bag, trunk, suit-case, barrel or receptable of any 
house, room or apartment; and provides a. fine of from 
$50.00 to $100.00 for refusal to open when requested. 



84 

MlJSKRATS. 

Acts 1916, Chapter 128. 

Unlawful for any person to catch or trap,, or hunt any 
fur-bearing animals such as mink, fox, skunk, raccoon or 
possum in Frederick County between the first day of 
March and the fifteenth day of November. 

Sec. 2. Permits the land owners to protect property 
from the ravages of said animals. 

Sec. 3. Permits night hunting for possum and raccoon 
with dogs at any time in the year. 

Sec. 4. Provides a penalty of $20.00 to $50.00 for each 
offense, one-half fine to person securing conviction, other 
half to State Treasurer account of Game Protection Fund. 

Quail. 
Acts 1916, Chatper 96. 

Section 1. Closes the season on quail or Bob White in 
Frederick County until November 10th, 1921. 

Sec. 2. Unlawful to have said birds in possession dur- 
ing said closed period. 

Sec. 3. Fine of $25.00 to $100.00 for each offense ; one- 
half of fine to person procuring the conviction, the other 
half to State Treasurer to account of State Game Pro- 
tection Fund. 

Sec. 4. Nothing in this Act to be construed to prohibit 
the raising or breeding of quail in said county. Approved 
April 18, 1916. 

Fish. 
Acts 1916, Chapter 404. 

Sec. 2. Makes it unlawful to catch any black bass in 
Frederick County from the first day of December until the 
first day of June, and then only with rod, hook and line. 
Unlawful to take any black bass under nine inches. 

Sec. 3. Unlawful to catch or have in possession any 
brook trout from the waters of Frederick County, except 
during April, May and June, and then only with rod, hook 



85 

and line. Unlawful to take said brook trout less than 
six inches. 

Sec. 4. Unlawful for any person to take or possess any 
fish of any kind, except brook trout and bait fish, from the 
waters of Frederick County from the fifteenth day of April 
until the the first day of June in every year. 

Sec. 5. Unlawful to take any fish in Frederick County 
with any kind of seine, or net, or gig, or any other con- 
trivance, except bait fish nets not over three feet long at 
any time, and dip nets between March 15th and April 15th. 

Sec. 6. Unlawful for non-resident to take any fish in the 
waters of said county without a license. License is issued 
by the Clerk of Circuit Court and costs $5.00, $4.50 of 
which shall go to the State Treasurer to account of State 
Game Protection Fund, to be used by the State Game 
Warden. 

Sec. 7. Prohibits the use of explosives and poisons in 
the waters of said county for the purpose of taking any fish. 

Sec. 8. Provides a fine of $10 to $25 for each offense 
committed in violation of Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and $25 to $50 
for Section 7. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 3. 

Prohibits taking out of the county and bass bait "known 
as scale bait, stony cats or mad toms," unless taken from 
the owners of enclosed ponds. 

Penalty, fine of $5.00 and not more than $25.00. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 672. 

This Act amends Article 11 of Code Public Local Laws 
of Frederick County by adding two new sections to be 
known as Sections 12Q-A and 126-Z?. 

Sec. 126-A. Makes it unlawful to catch, kill or destroy 
or take in any manner any fish from Bush Creek in said 
county, except with rod, line and hook, baited with natural 
bait, artificial fly or spoon or spinner. 

Sec. 126-B. Provides a fine of not less than $5 nor 
more than $30 for each fish taken contrary to the pro- 
visions of previous section, upon conviction before a justice 
of peace, and for commitment to jail in default of pay- 
ment of fine. One-half of all fines is to be paid to original 



86 

informer, and other half to the Maryland Fish Commis- 
sioner for purpose of restocking the streams of Maryland. 

FREDERICK AND CARROLL COUNTIES. 

Acts 1912. Chapter 631, repeals and re-enacts Chapter 
642, Acts 1910. It makes it unlawful to catch black bass 
and brook trout in waters of Frederick County and en- 
roll County, excepting during June, July, August. Sep- 
tember, October and November and only with hook and 
line. Docs not apply to Potomac River. Unlawful to fish 
with nets of any kind except dip nets and minnow nets for 
catching bait. Fish baskets are unlawful. Non-residents of 
the State are required to have a license to fish; cost, $5. 
Unlawful to have in possession any bass or trout under 
six inches; fine. $25 to $50. Failure to obtain license, 
$10 fine. 

GARRETT COUNTY. 

Game. 
Acts 1912, Chapter 480. 

Repeals and re-enacts Section 1 of Chapter 6, Acts 1908, 
and provides that no person shall kill, expose for sale, 
transport or have in possession any pheasant, partridge, 
woodcock or wild turkey for any other purpose than for 
consumption as food within the State of Maryland. Cannot 
export same out of Maryland. Any person having afore- 
said game in possession out of season to be fined $50 to 
$1.00 for each bird or animal. Licensed hunter can carry 
out with him his game. 

The penalty provided for in Chapter 6, Acts 1908, is not 
repealed and is in full force. 

Unlawful to trap or ensnare any rabbit in Garrett 
County at any time. 

Unlawful to sell or expose for sale or ship or transport 
out of said county any pheasant, partridge, woodcock or 
wild turkey. Provided it shall be legal to buy and sell 
rabbits and to ship them out provided they are shipped 
openly with their hind legs tied together. 



Any non-resident hunter shall be permitted to carry out 
with him not more than six birds of any of the above 
enumerated kinds. 

Fine. $50 to $100. 

Fish. 

Acts 1914. Chapter 49. 

Section 1. Prohibits catching brook trout or other trout 
from any stream which has been stocked with trout or had 
fish placed in them from the State Fish Hatchery for two 
years from April 1, 1914. 

Sec. 2. Prohibits non-residents from any fishing with- 
out a license, the cost of which is $5.00. 

Penalty, fine of not less than $5.00 nor more than $50.00. 

HARFORD COUNTY. 

Game. 
Acts 1918, Chapter 92. 

Relating to wild fowl on the Susquehanna Flats. Re- 
enacts Section 300-A of Article 13. Provides that any 
person during the gunning season as fixed by Section 279 
shall be allowed to anchor any sink box, sneak boat or 
other vessel on the Susquehanna. Flats after 4.30 A. M. 
on Monday. Wednesday or Friday prior to January 1st, 
or on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after 
January 1st during the open season, and before the morn- 
ing of the day next succeeding each of the days above 
specified for the purpose of procuring a berth. Such 
licensed sink box, sneak boat or vessel lying northward of 
the line district in Section 2J8 shall be required to only 
display lights on said crafts as required by the Federal 
Laws. Fine for violation not less than $25.00 nor more 
than $100.00. Half of said fine goes to the officer making 
the arrest and the other half to be paid to those assisting 
him. Justices of the peace of Cecil and Harford counties 
and the Circuit Courts of same shall have concurrent jur- 
isdiction. 



88 

A.ts 1916, Chapter 307. 

38. Unlawful for any person at any time to shoot 
or pursue the following named birds in Harford County 
(the list herein given covers most of the song birds which 
are all protected by both the State-wide and Federal laws). 
It adds, however, the following game birds: dove, wild 
turkey, pheasant, ruffed grouse and ring-necked pheasant. 

Sec. 39. Unlawful to disturb or destroy the eggs of any 
of the birds protected by Section 38. 

Sec. 40. Provides a penalty of not less than $2.00 and 
not more than $10.00 for each offense. All fines collected 
to be paid to the informer. 

41. Possession of any of the birds shall be a prima 
facie ease. It is the duty of all constables, police officers, 
sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, chief game warden or deputy 
game wardens to enforce this law. 

Sec. 42. Provides for an open season in said county on 
rabbit, partridge and woodcock from November 10th to 
Decern her 24th, inclusive. Prohibits the shooting of said 
game on Sunday, or election day, or when the ground is 
sufficiently covered with snow to track such game. No per- 
son shall shoot, hunt, pursue or injure in said county any 
raccoon from December 1st to October 1st, inclusive, or 
when the ground is covered with snow so they may be 
tracked. 

Sec. 42- A. No person, corporation or transportation 
company shall buy, sell, have in possession, or offer for 
sale, for the purpose of export from said county, or export 
from or carry out of said county, any rabbit, partridge, 
quail, squirrel or raccoon. Nothing herein intended to pro- 
hbiit a bona fide licensee or owner, lessee or tenant from 
taking out of the county for private use during the open 
season not more than 10 partridges, 5 woodcocks, 10 jack- 
snipes. 6 rabbits, 1 jack-rabbit, 8 squirrels or 50 railbirds. 

Sec. 42-B. No person shall set any trap, deadfall, pit- 
fall, snare, steel trap or other device for the taking of wild 
animals, except muskrats, in said county between the 
twenty-fourth day of December and the fifteenth day of 
November, exclusive of both dates. 

Sec. 42-C. It shall be unlawful for any owner of dog 



89 

to permit same to run at large during the closed season, 
and pursue, kill, harm, destroy or catch any game or 
animal mentioned herein, or the eggs, nests or young of 
same. Any person harboring a dog shall be deemed the 
owner thereof. Owners may train their dogs between Sep- 
tember 1st and November 10th, provided he accompanies 
them and carries no gun. 

Sec. 42-D. Unlawful to take, or kill, or have in pos- 
session more than ten partridges, five woodcocks, ten jack- 
snipes, six rabbits, one jack-rabbit, or eight squirrels in any 
one day, nor more than fiftv railbirds per time. (Approved 
May 4, 1918.) 

Sec. 43. Any person, partnership or corporation viola- 
ting any provision of five preceding sections shall, upon 
conviction, be fined $5.00 for each offense and $5.00 addi- 
tional for every game bird and animal killed, trapped, 
bought, sold or had in possession; or had in possession for 
the purpose of export or transported, bought or sold for 
export, or carried out of said county. 

Sec. 44. Illegal to trespass with dog, gun or trap upon 
any private property in said county. Fine, $5.00 and costs. 

Sec. 44-A. Provides for a local license system for said 
countv which is repealed by the Acts of 1918, Chapter 468. 

Secs. 44-B, 44-C, 44-D, 44-E, 44-P, 44-G, 44-H, 44-1, 
44-J, 44-K, 44-L, 44-M, 44-0, 44-P. All relate to the local 
license system of Harford County and to the appointment 
of the local game wardens and are repealed by the Acts 
of 1918. Chapter 468. 

Sec. 44-N. Nothing in the Act to be construed to pre- 
vent the possession of game for the purpose of propagation, 
provided such person shall first secure from the Chief 
Game Warden from said county written permission to 
Pi. n 

Sec. 45. Provides that an appeal from a decision of a 
justice of the peace within ten days to the Circuit Court 
for Harford County. 

Sec. 46. Provides for the disposition of the fines and 
is repealed bv Acts 1918, Chapter 468. Approved May 
4, 1916. 



90 

Acts 1916, Chapter 89. 

Sec. 285. No person shall gun for wild water-fowl on 
the Susquehanna Flats but three days in each week until 
the first day in January during the open season for shoot- 
ing same and those days shall be Monday, Wednesday 
and Friday. Prom January 1st until end of the season the 
days shall be Monday, Wednesday. Friday and Saturday. 
Bach of said days shall be between one hour before sunrise 
and sunset, and said time shall not include any part or 
period of night. Pine for violation of same not less than 
$50.00 nor more than $100.00. See Cecil County. Acts 
1916, Chapter 383. 

Ads 1!)14. Chapter 365. 

Also provides for anchoring sink box. sneak boat or any 
other vessel or craft after 4.30 A. M. of the day preceding 
a gunning day, but such lights must be displayed as the 
Federal Law requires. Must muffle exhaust so as not to 
disturb wild fowl. 

Penalty for shooting other than times mentioned, fine of 
not less than $50.00 nor more than $100.00. For failure to 
show proper lights, fine of not less than $50.00 nor more 
than $100.00. 

Penalty for failure to muffle exhaust, fine of not less than 
$25.00 nor more than $50.00. 

Fish. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 556, makes it unlawful to catch or 
kill sturgeon for ten years in the Chesapeake Bay and trib- 
utaries. 

Penalty, fine of $50.00 for each sturgeon. See State- 
wide Fish Law. 

Under Acts 1914, Chapter 816, prohibits fishing in Rom- 
ney Creek between October 1st and February 1st, and 
prohibits at all times hoop, fyke, purse, buck and pound 
nets, fish pots and fish baskets. 

Penally, not less than $10.00 nor more than $50.00 fine. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 366, amends the general law by pro- 
viding that one-half of the cost of constructing fish ladders 



91 

upon dams in Harford County, now in existence, shall be 
paid by County Commissioners. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 141. 

This Acts adds two new sections to Article 13, Code of 
Public Local Laws, title Harford County, sub-title "Fish," 
to be known as 132-A and 132-5. 

Sec. 132-A. Provides that no person who is not a 
bona fide resident of Harford County shall fish in the Bush 
and Gunpowder Rivers within said counties with nets or 
traps of any description, except, however, that nothing in 
the Act shall prevent owners, renters or leasors of land bor- 
dering on said waters from catching fish with nets. 

Does not apply to non-resident hook and line fisherman, 

Sec. 132-B. Provides for arrest of violators and convic- 
tion under usual procedure, and for payment of a fine of 
not less than $25 nor more than $50 for each violation of 
the provisions of Section 132-A. 

Sec. 132-C. One-half of fines to be paid to Commis- 
sioners of Fisheries of Maryland to be used for protection 
of fish and other half to informer. 

Acts 1912, Chatpter 393, Makes it unlawful to fish in 
Swan Creek with buck net, hauling seine or stake net from 
July 15 to September 20. Fine, $10 to $25. 

KENT COUNTY. 

Game. 
Acts 1918, Chapter 337. 

Repeals and re-enacts Section 217-B of Article 15, Code 
of Public Local Laws, sub-title "Wild Fowl." Unlawful 
to shoot wild fowl in or over the waters of Kent County, 
except from the shore and natural islands, except that ii 
shall be lawful for the citizens of said county on Monday, 
Friday and Saturday, during the open season, to shoot 
wild fowl in Comegy's Bight (a tributary of the Chester 
River) from a stick blind not to be erected over 400 yards 
from the shore, and to shoot such wild fowl in said 
Comegy's Bight from a boat or float placed in such blind; 



92 

and it shall be unlawful to erect any such stick blind 
within 400 yards of one already so erected, except when it 
may be necessary to chase crippled wild fowl previously 
shot from such blinds. Further makes it unlawful to 
shoot wild fowls, otters, muskrats or other water animals 
by the use of any light in any part of Kent County; also 
makes it unlawful to shoot wild fowl over the waters of 
Chester River and tributaries in the jurisdiction of Kent 
County above a line drawn from Cliffs to Spaniards Point. 
except on Monday, Friday and Saturday. Fine for viola- 
tion, not less than $5.00, nor more than $50.00. Half of 
fine to be paid to the informant. 

Muskrats, Otter and Raccoon. 
Acts 1902, Chapters 264 and 503. 
State Law — Open season, January 1st to April 1st. 

Fish. 
Acts 1906, Chapter 527. 

Prohibits hauling seines in any waters of Kent County 
without permission of owners of land bounding on said 
waters. 

Acts 1890. Chapter 89. Lawful for owners of land on 
Sassafras River and tributaries, from Luke's Point to 
head of River, or to any person to whom they extend the 
privilege, to take fish from pound nets from August 1st to 
June 1st; said nets shall not extend across any channel 
nor obstruct the passage of any vessel, nor shall any seine, 
or net, be used that has meshes less than one and one- 
quarter inches square; no stake or post to be used more 
than five inches in diameter; nor shall such stake remain 
in water except during above period. Must obtain per- 
mission from owner of land bordering on said waters, nor 
to place any net so as to obstruct the hauling of any seine 
upon established fishing shores. Penalty, $20 and for- 
feiture of seine, boat and materials. (Same season in 
waters of Cecil.) 



93 

Public Local Laws, Article 15. Unlawful to leave stakes 
in the water when it is unlawful to fish. Unlawful for non- 
residents of Kent and Queen Anne's County to use any 
boat or trap of any kind to fish in Chester River and trib- 
utaries. Persons owning land may lease by written con- 
tract, under seal and recorded, allowing non-residents to 
fish; does not apply to hook and line. Penalty, $20.00 to 
$50.00. Unlawful for others than residents of said coun- 
ties to haul seine in any of the waters without permission 
of the owners, or occupiers of the land on said waters. 
Unlawful for non-residents of said counties to dredge for 
terrapins. Penalty, $10 to $50.00. 

QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY. 

Game. 

Acts 1912, Chapter 768. 

Provides that it shall be unlawiful to shoot wild fowl 
in this county, except from the shore or natural island, and 
not from any boat, except licensed sink boxes and booby 
blinds, which blinds shall be not over 100 yards from shore. 
Booby blind licenses issued by Clerk of the Circuit Court 
and cost $2.50, and provides how such blind shall be placed 
in order to secure the position. 

Unlawful, however, to shoot from boat, sink box or booby 
blind in Chester River and tributaries, Queen Anne's 
County, above Melton Point. Fine, $10 to $25. 

Fish and Terrapin in Cox's Creek and Kent Island 

Narrows. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 697. 

Section 1 of this Act makes it unlawful for any person 
to use haul seines, drag nets, scrapes or any other contri- 
vance in catching fish or terrapin (fykes, gill nets and hook 
and line excepted) in Cox's Creek and tributaries in Queen 
Anne's County north of a line drawn from the wharf of 
Salmers Oyster House on Kent Island westerly until it 
strikes the shore of John M. Cockey at Jones Hole. And 
also in the waters of Kent Island Narrows in said county 



94 

lying south of a line drawn from Ferry Point on the west 
side of Long Point on the east side, and north of a line 
drawn from Buck Horn Point on west side of Cedar Point 
on the east side. 

Provides for a fine of not less than $25 nor more than 
$100. with usual provisions for imprisonment in case of 
non-payment of fine and costs. Also provides for a right 
of appeal within 10 days from date of conviction. 

Chapter 501 (Act 1912) repeals Chapter 697, Acts 1910, 
which law prohibited haul seines, etc., in Cox's Creek and 
Kent Island Narrows. 

See also Kent County for fishing in Chester River. 

MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

Shooting on Sunday. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 119. 

This Act makes it unlawful to hunt with gun or rifle 
or other instruments for killing game on Sunday. Fine 
of $10 for violation. One-half to informer and other half 
to public schools. 

( Jarrying on Sunday of gun or rifle by persons off his 
own premises constitutes a prima facie case. 

Acts 1912, Chapter 438. 

This is a new game act for Montgomery along the old 
lines. It makes it unlawful to kill any bluebird, thrush, 
martin, mocking-bird, barn swallow, lark, oriole, redbird, 
catbird, chipping sparrow, wren, pewitt, goldfinch, sap- 
sucker, hanging-bird, woodpecker, flycatcher or taninger at 
any time, and unlawful to either disturb or destroy the 
eggs or young of said birds. Fine, not more than $5.00. 

Unlawful to take any raccoon or possum between Jan- 
uary 15th and October 15th, nor any muskrat between 
March 1st and November 15th. 

Unlawful to trap or ensnare any game birds or animals. 

Unlawful to track when snow is on the ground. 

Unlawful to sell for the purpose of carrying out of the 
county, or to trap or shoot any quail, woodcock or rabbit 
except for consumption or food within said eountv. 



95 

Bounty on hawks, 40 cents. 

Prohibits dogs running at large ; fine, not more than $5. 
Residents of the county to receive bounty of 40 cents for 
hawks, provided the County Commissioners see fit to pay, 
and publish the fact in one newspaper. 

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY. 

Game. 

Secs. 616-17. It is unlawful for a non-resident of Prince 
George's County and of Anne Arundel County to "hunt, 
shoot, kill or destroy, ' ' or trap any birds within the limits 
of said counties without a permit from the landowner. 

Penalty for violation, fine of $5.00 and forfeiture of 
gunning and shooting apparatus. 

Sec. 618. Under this section the possession of a dead 
bird is prima facie evidence of a violation. 

Sec. 622. It is unlawful for any person to hunt upon 
the lands of another, with or without gun or dogs, except 
upon the written consent of the landowner. Penalty for 
violation, $10.00. 

Sec. 626. Provides for possession of partridges, quail 
or pheasants for breeding purposes. 

It is unlawful to hunt, shoot or trap muskrats on the 
Patuxent River, its tributaries or marshes in Aquaseo Dis- 
trict, between March 15th and January 1st, or to spear the 
same at any time. 

Penalty for violation, fine of from $5.00 to $25.00. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 688. 

Sec. 270. Provides for a bounty of 30 cents for each 
hawk head, same to be paid by the County Commissioners 
upon certificate from a justice of the peace. 

See Acts 1916, Chapter 367, Anne Arundel County, for 
raccoon in Prince George's County. 

Fish. 

Sec. 266. It is unlawful to catch, trap or kill any trout, 
bass or salmon, except with hook and line, in the Eastern 



96 

Branch of the Potomac River, and the Western Branch 
of the Patuxent River, between August 15th and May 15th. 
It is unlawful to fish in the Patuxent River, between 
March 1st and May 1st, above a line drawn from Claggett'a 
Landing on the Prince George's County side to Lerch's 
Mill on the Anne Arundel County side, or in the coves, 
creeks or tributaries of said river in Prince George's 
County, Avith any set net, fish basket or fish instrument for 
catching fish; provided, however, that any resident of 
Prince George's County may erect any pot, fish trap, set 
line, weir, weirs, pound net or fyke, or any or all of the 
same, during spawning season, by leaving a space of not 
less than fifteen feet between the end of such net. etc., 
and the shore on one side of said river or its tributaries. 
Penalty, fine of $25.00 for the first offense and $50.00 
for each subsequent one. 

Acts 1894, Chapter 64. 

It is unlawful to "set, place, construct or use any nets 
(known as pound nets) in the Patuxent River, between the 
head of the river and Holland Point "Wharf, less than 500 
yards apart. 

Penaltv for violation, not more than $100.00. 
Acts 1910, Chapter 208. 

Note. — The references, unless otherwise noted, are to 
the Local Code of Prince George's County of 1912. 

PATUXENT RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES. 

Wild Fowl, Snipe, Ortolan, Reed Birds and Musk- 
rats, Etc. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 315. 

Sec. 3. Provides that any person who wishes to push, 
paddle or convey hunters on said river or its tributaries 
must, before doing so, secure a license from the Clerk of 
the Circuit Court of the county in which he resides, the 
cost of which is $2.50 A violation of this section is pun- 
ishable by a fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than 
$50.00 for each offense. 



97 

Sec. 5. Provides that a non-resident shall not shoot 
or trap on said waters any such bird or fowl without the 
written permission of the landowner of the land adjacent 
to such water or marshes. A violation of this section is 
punishable by a fine of not less than $5.00 or more than 
$25.00 and costs. 

Sec. 6. Provides that bona fide members of any hunting 
club, incorporated and organized before January 1, 1912, 
owning or leasing real estate within one mile of said 
river and improved by a clubhouse, shall be considered 
bona fide residents of Maryland, but they must exhibit, 
when demanded by an officer of the law, a membership 
card. Seealso Acts 1908, Chapter 574, page 270. 

Sec. 7. Provides that it shall be unlawful for any per- 
son to shoot muskrat, wild fowl or game birds of any de- 
scription on said waters from sunset to sunrise. A violation 
of this section is punishable by a fine of not less than 
$5.00 or more than $25.00 and costs. 

See also Calvert, Charles and Arundel Counties. 

PATUXENT RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES BETWEEN 
ST. MARY'S AND CALVERT COUNTIES. 

Fish. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 406. 

Sec. 29. Unlawful to set, place, construct or use any 
pound net, fyke net, trap net, sunken net or stake net of 
any kind, or any device for catching fish in any part of the 
Patuxent River, from Queen Anne Bridge on said river 
down said river to a straight line drawn across the mouth 
of said river, from Drum Point Lighthouse in Calvert 
County to Hog Point in St. Mary's County nearer than 
500 yards in every direction from any other net or device, 
or of greater length than 175 yards below a straight line 
from Truman's Point Wharf across said river to a point- 
on the shore directly opposite said wharf, or of a total 
length of more than 50 yards above said straight line from 
Truman's Point Wharf. 

This section does not apply to hook and line fishing, 
floating gill nets, purse nets or seines. Nothing herein con- 



98 

tained to prevent taking of carp of any size or description. 

Sec. 30. Unlawful to use or haul any seine or gill net 
or purse net in any part of said river with a smaller mesh 
than is prescribed in Section 23 (which is two square 
inches), or in any creek or tributary of said river less than 
200 feet wide at its mouth. 

Sec. 31. It is unlawful to catch fish except for food. 

Sec. 32. Provides for issuance of permit to fish by 
justice of the peace. 

Sec. 33. Provides for the arrest of violators, seizure of 
boats, etc. 

Penalty, three months in House of Correction (mini- 
mum) and not more than one year, or fine of from $50.00 
to $100.00. 

The same provision is made for Chesapeake Bay between 
a straight line drawn from Drum Point Lighthouse in Cal- 
vert County to Hog Point Lighthouse in St. Mary's 
County, and a straight line drawn from Cove Point Light- 
house in Calvert County to Cedar Point Lighthouse in St. 
Mary's County. 

Penalty of not less than $100.00 or more than $300.00 
and forfeiture of boats, nets, etc. 

• SOMERSET COUNTY. 

MUSKRATS. 

Acts 1918, Chapter 251. 

Repeals Section 8 of Chapter 219, Acts of 1916. Makes 
it unlawful for anyone to shoot or kill by shooting any 
muskrat in Somerset County, or have in possession the 
hide of any muskrat so killed. Any muskrat hide per- 
forated with holes having the appearance of shot or bullet 
holes shall be prima facie evidence that it was from a 
muskrat so killed. Fine of not less than $10.00 nor more 
than $100.00 for any offense. Half of said fine to go to 
the informant. 

See Worcester County Acts 1918, Chapter 266, for Som- 
erset Fox Law. 



99 

Fish. 
Acts 1910, Chapter 378. 

Sec. 119. Unlawful for any person, except a resident 
of Somerset, to fix. set or stake out any sort of gill net, 
stationary or floating, or any device for catching herring, 
shad, or other fish in the waters of Monie Creek or its 
tributaries within the county. Nothing in Act to be con- 
strued to prevent citizens of "Wicomico County from using 
the waters of Wicomico River in common with citizens of 
Somerset. 

Sec. 124. Unlawful, except by citizens of Somerset, for 
any person to use any patent twine, weirs, pound nets or 
hedges for the taking of fish in said county. Nothing 
herein to be construed to prevent the citizens of Wicomico 
from using the waters of Wicomico River in common with 
citizens of Somerset. 

ST. MARY'S COUNTY. 

Squirrel Season, — No closed season according to opinion 
of the Attorney-General. See Acts 1918, Chapter 409. 

TALBOT COUNTY. 

For fox law see Caroline County, Acts 1918, Chapter 
450. See Caroline County, Acts 1918. Chapter 94, for 
turkey buzzard law. 

Game. 
Acts 1914, Chapter 717. 

Game shipment prohibited. 

Bag limit to be taken out of the county: 12 quail or 
partridges, 6 rabbits, 6 woodcock, 6 squirrel, 6 doves and 
12 ducks at one time, but game shall not be carried out for 
the purpose of sale. 

Prohibits traps, nets or snares. 

Penalty, fine of $10.00 for each game bird or animal. 
Acts 1914, Chapter 717. 



100 

Acts 1912, Chapter 722. 

Dickinson's Bay. — Makes it unlawful for any person 
at any time to shoot wild fowl from any blind or sink box 
over 200 yards from the shore, measuring from mean low 
Mater mark. Unlawful for anyone to place any blinds less 
than 500 yards apart. 

Residents of county only allowed to have blinds, and 
they must obtain a license from Clerk of the Circuit Court ; 
cost, $5. No person or club shall have more than two 
licenses. If blind is lost or washed away, it must be re- 
placed in 10 days or lose his set. Shore owners have first 
choice of sets, provided they mark same 20 days previous 
to opening of season ; fine, $50 to $100. 

Otter axd Muskrats. 

Chapter 785 (Acts 1912) provides that it shall be un- 
lawful to shoot, trap or take or have in possession any 
otter, muskrat, or hide or skin of same, between March 15 
and December 15, inclusive. Dealers, however, can have 
the hides in possession between March 15 and March 31, in- 
clusive, in Talbot County. 

Unlawful to shoot or take in any manner, except trap, 
any muskrat or otter between sunrise and sunset ; unlawful 
to dig into or destroy any muskrat house. Fine. $10 for 
each offense and forfeiture of boat or other apparatus. 

Fish, Terrapin, Crabs. 
Acts 1910, Chapter 667. 

Sec. 114. It shall be unlawful to take or destroy any 
fish in Talbot County except as provided in the following 
sections. 

Sec. 115. It shall be lawful to catch fish in Miles River 
and tributaries, Wye and tributaries and Great Choptank 
and tributaries (in Talbot County) with gill nets or hook 
and line at any time. Lawful to catch fish in Skipton 
Creek with haul seines from August 1st to May 20th fol- 
lowing. Unlawful to set any net so that it will extend 
over one-half way across. Lawful a catch fish in all other 



101 

waters of the county at any time with hook and line. Law- 
ful to eatch fish in all waters of county not already men- 
tioned with gill nets, fykes, haul seines, drag nets, fish 
baskets, fish pots and pound nets from the first day of 
August to the twentieth day of May following. Mesh in 
all such seines, nets, pounds and fykes must be not less 
than one and one-half inches in the bar. 

Sec. 115-A. Persons violating provisions of Section 115 
are liable to a fine of $20 and confiscation of nets and ap- 
pliances, which shall be sold at public auction by office^ 
making arrest. Proceeds of sale to go to County Commis- 
sioners to credit of public schools. One-half of fine goes 
to informer and other half to warden making arrest. 

Sec. 115-C and D and E. Unlawful to take or have in 
possession any terrapin less than five inches in length on 
bottom shell, and unlawful to destroy or interfere with the 
eggs of same, and none but residents of the county can 
catch terrapin therein at any time. 

Sec. 115-F. Fine, $5 for each terrapin illegally held or 
taken or destruction of eggs. Terrapins so illegally had 
are to be confiscated and liberated. One-half fine goes to 
game warden ; no provisions made for disposal of other 
one-half. 

S53. 115-G. Possession of terrapin traps, snares, nets or 
devices for capturing terrapin between April 1st and 
November 1st shall be conclusive evidence of violation. 

Sec. 115-H. Sheriff, deputy sherff, constables, game 
wardens and officers of State Fishery Force shall, upon 
information, arrest any person for violating provisions of 
this article and take him before nearest justice. 

Sec. 115-1. Unlawful for any but citizens and resident" 
€f county, w T ho have resided in said county for twelve 
months, to take or catch crabs with scoops, scrapes or trot 
lines in tributaries of Great Choptank in Talbot County. 

Sec. 116. Fine of $25 for each violation of Section 
115-1, and stand committed to County Jail until fine and 
costs are paid. 



102 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

Game. 
Acts 1916, Chapter 320. 

Sections 34 to 34-L, except 34-1, relate to local county 
hunting licenses, trespass, etc., and are repealed by Acts 
1918, Chapter 468. 

Sec. 34-1. Unlawful to trap any game, except that 
rabbits may be caught during the open season in box traps ; 
and muskrats, skunks, minks, possums and otter may be 
caught in any manner during December, January, Febru- 
ary and March. 

Acts 1912, Chapter 816. 

Makes it unlawful to shoot, kill, or catch, or trap, or 
shoot from a blind or bait with grain any wild birds, ex- 
cept hawks, owls, English sparrows, ducks, geese, wild pig- 
cons, jacksnipe, cedar birds and rail. Unlawful to kill or 
trap deer at a lick, or kill with anything except a rifle. 
Unlawful to kill, catch, trap or destroy doves, woodcock, 
partridges, Hungarian quail, pheasants, ruffed grouse, wild 
turkey, deer, rabbits, squirrels; except quail, pheasants, par- 
tridges and turkeys, from November 10 to December 24, in- 
clusive, and doves from August 15 to December 24, inclu- 
sive ; and squirrels, August 25 to October 1 and November 
10 to December 24. Use of ferrets for rabbits prohibited 
at all times. Penalty is set forth in Section 34. Acts 1908, 
Chapter 708. 

No open season for deer. 

Unlawful to sell or attempt to sell any game at any 
time, whether killed within this State or out of it. 

Note. — This Act void in so far as it conflicts with State 
season law and Rederal regulations. 

Game Preserves. 
Acts 1912, Chapter 784. 

Provides for a certificate to be issued by the State Game 
Warden permitting the raising of game, and giving the 



103 

right to sell same alive for propagating purposes, under 
certain restrictions. The bill goes very fully into the tag- 
ging and shipping of game and provides penalty. (Seven 
sections.) 

Fish. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 577. 

Prohibits taking out of the county any live bass bait 
known as scale bait, stony cats or mad toms. 

Penalty, fine not less than $10.00 nor more than $50.00. 

WICOMICO COUNTY. 

Game. 
Acts 1918, Chapter 379. 

Amends Article 23 of Code to the Public Local Laws 
by adding two ne,w sections known as 2-A and 2-B. 

2-A — Makes it unlawful for any person in Wicomico 
County at any time to shoot or in any manner kill or 
catch, except by trapping, any muskrat ; unlawful -for any 
person to dig for muskrats or to dig into or in any man- 
ner destroy or molest the roof or other part of a muskrat 
house ; also unlawful for any person to have in possession 
any muskrat or hide that has been shot at or into or killed 
in any manner except by trapping. 

2-B — Provides, upon conviction before any justice of the 
peace of said county, the violator shall be fined $10.00 for 
each offense, or sent to jail for not more than 30 days, or 
both. Any muskrat illegally killed, and any muskrat 
house or den illegally molested, and any skin so shot shall 
be deemed a separate offense. 

Open season on muskrats, otter and raccoon, January 1 
to March 31, inclusive. (Acts 1902, Chapter 503.) 

Acts 1918, Chapter 323. 

No person, corporation or company shall at any time 
kill or expose for sale, transport or have in possession any 
partridge, quail, woodcock or rabbits, after the same has 
been killed within Wicomico County for any purpose, ex- 



104 

eept for consumption or food within said county; nor 
kill, expose for sale or have in possession any of the above- 
named with the intention of sending or transporting be- 
yond the limits of said county. Provided that nothing 
herein contained shall prevent the barter or sale of such 
game by the person or persons who trap, catch, shoot or 
kill such game directly to the consumer within said county; 
provided also that nothing herein shall prevent non-resi- 
dents of the State who had taken out a license to hunt in 
said county from taking with them out of said county any 
of the above-named game which they may have killed 
within the limits thereof. 

% Acts 1916, Chapter 91. 

Section 1. Unlawful to shoot, trap or kill, or hunt for 
any kind of pheasant in Wicomico Countv until November 
10th, 1921. 

Sec. 2. Fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100 
for each offense. One-half of fine to person securing con- 
viction, and other half to State Treasurer to the account 
of State Game Protection Fund. 

Fish. 

Acts 1912, Chapter 727. 

Makes it unlawful for any person, excepting residents of 
Wicomico County, to fish in the waters of the county with 
any patent twine nets gill nets, float seines, weirs, pound 
nets or hedges ; fine, $25 and confiscation of outfit. Pro- 
vided nothing herein contained shall interfere with citizens 
of Wicomico and Somerset Counties from fishing in Wicom- 
ico River, or citizens of Wicomico and Dorchester Counties 
from fishing in Nanticoke River in common. 

WORCESTER COUNTY. 

Fox. 
Acts 1918, Chapter 266. 

Makes it unlawful to dig out in any manner any female 
fox or young, or kill in any manner such female fox 



105 

or young during the breeding period. Fine of not less 
than $10.00 nor more than $50.00, or imprisonment for 
a term not exceeding ten days for any female fox so dug 
out or caused to be killed. Half of fine to go to the in- 
formant. Nothing in this Article shall be so construed as 
to prevent the killing of foxes at any time while they are 
in pursuit or in the act of killing or carrying away poul- 
try; and provide further that such persons may be per- 
mitted to kill such fox or foxes within a reasonable time 
after the pursuit, killing or carrying away of said poultry. 
This law is also for Somerset County. 

Muskrat, Otter and Mink. 
Acts 1910, Chapter 239. 

Section 1. Provides that no person shall trap, shoot or 
in any manner catch, kill or wound any muskrats, otter or 
minks in Worcester County between the first day of March 
and the fifteenth day of December in each and every year. 

Sec. 2. Provides that any person convicted before jus- 
tice of the peace of violating the provisions of previous sec- 
tions shall be fined $20 to $30, with usual provisions for 
imprisonment in case of non-payment of fine. One-half of 
fine goes to informer and other half to County Commis- 
sioners for School Fund. 

Sec. 3. Provides that any person found trespassing 
upon the lands or marshes of another, with intention of 
catching or shooting any muskrats. otter or minks without 
permission of owner, shall be fined $10 to $20. Same dis- 
position of fine as Section 2. 

Fish and Terrapin. 

Acts 1914, Chapter 279. 

Provides for the issuance by the Clerk of the Circuit 
Court of a license to any person, non-resident of the State, 
or to a firm, stock company or co-partnership composed of 
persons in whole or in part of non-residents of the State, 
and to any corporation other than those incorporated under 
the laws of this State, who wishes to take or catch fish for 



106 

market or profit in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean within 
the jurisdiction of the State of Maryland, in Worcester 
County, with a purse net, pound net, fyke net, gill net, 
haul seine, sturgeon net, skirt net, or other similar device. 
The license fee runs from $1.00 to $100.00, according to the 
kind of net used. 

Penalty, fine of $10.00 and not more than $200.00 for 
each day or fraction of a day. 

Acts 1910, Chapter 350. 

Sec. 179. Provides that no person other than bona fide 
residents of the State of Maryland shall catch clams or ter- 
rapin in the Sinepuxent Bay or its tributaries in Worcester 
County. Provides fine of $10 to $50 for each offense and 
forfeiture of all boats and other apparatus used in such 
violation, and in case of failure to pay fines shall be im- 
prisoned for not more than thirty days. 

Sec. 180. No person other than an actual resident of 
the county or a taxpayer with property standing in own 
name, assessed at $1,000 or over, or unless he takes out a 
license as herein provided, shall haul for or catch fish with 
any seine or set net of any description in Sinepuxent Bay 
or its tributaries within the county. No person shall fish 
in said Avaters with nets of any description containing 
meshes less than one and one-half inches square, excepting 
during July, August, September and October, when this 
section shall not apply to fatbacks or crocus. 

Sec. 181. Provides a penalty of $10 and imprisonment 
from 10 to 60 days in case of non-payment of fine. 

Sec. 182. A non-resident of the county who is not a 
taxpayer shall obtain a license to fish with seines and nets 
in Sinepuxent Bay and tributaries within the county, for 
which he shall pay $100. 

Sec. 183. It shall not be lawful for any non-residents 
of Maryland to take or catch or plant oysters in Sinepuxent 
Bay or tributaries in county, or to rake or catch clams or 
terrapins in said waters. 

Sec. 188. It shall be the duty of the sheriff, State Game 
Warden or deputy warden or constable to arrest, with or 
without warrant, any person, and to seize and take into 
custody any canoe, boat or vessel whenever and wherever 



107 

such person or boats are found violating or being used: 
in violation of any of the provisions of this article, and 
bring the offender before a justice of the peace or judge 
of Circuit Court of the county. 

Sec. 199. Any person violating any of the provisions, 
of the three preceding sections shall be deemed guilty of a. 
misdemeanor; fine, $5 to $10 or imprisonment not exceed- 
ing- 30 days until costs are paid. 

Sec. 200. Upon information given under oath to any 
magistrate of the county of any violation of any provisions; 
of said sections the magistrate shall issue his warrant for 
the arrest of offender and the seizure of the seine used in 
the violation, which Warrant shall be directed to the sheriff 
or State Game Warden or deputy game warden or con- 
stable, requiring the offender to be brought before him ; 
also seines used, whether the owner of same be known to> 
him or not. 

MEMORANDUM. 

Attention is called to the following decisions of the Court 
of Appeals of Maryland in regards to possession Of game 
out of season. The Court has held that unless the statute 
specifically says that game killed out of the State is in- 
cluded by the statute, that it will be legal to possess game 
out of season, provided it is shown that same was killed out 
of Maryland. It is, therefore, always necessary to say in 
every law relating to possession of game during the closed 
season, "whether the same Was killed in this State or in 
any other State," or worcis to that effect. The State laws 
so read, having learned by experience, but the majority of 
the county laws fail to properly cover, this point, and the 
game warden is often called upon to prosecute a hopeless 
case. 

See — 

Stevens vs. State, 89 Md. 671. 

Mt, Vernon Co. vs. Frankford Co., Ill Md. 568. 

Dickhaut vs. State, 85 Md. 460. T. D.. 



INDEX. 



(State-wide Laws Parts I and II.) 



Page. 

Aliens 29 

Bag Limit 18-19 

Birds and Game (See "Seasons") 

Possession in closed season prohibited 13 

What are game birds 14 

What are non-game birds 14 

Killing non-game birds prohibited 14 

Destruction bird eggs and nests prohibited .... 14-18 

Bird plumage not to be sold in State 14 

Taking birds for scientific purposes 15 

Certificates required 15 

Certain birds not protected 16 

Swivel Gun prohibited 17 

Frightening game prohibited 17 

Ferret not to be used 18 

Trapping quail prohibited 18 

Poisoning poultry prohibited 18 

Bag limit 18 

Size and kind of gun 16-10 

Export of game prohibited 26 

Blinds, limits of 5 

Boundary Line, Maryland- Virginia 47 

Concurrent Law, Potomac River 45 

Rights of citizens of two States 46 

Fish and crabs 46-47 

Size of mesh 46 

Destroying eggs or nests 18 

District Deputy Wardens 2 

Dog Law, synopsis . 32 

Exporting Game 26 

Fish and Fisheries 34-61 

Susquehanna Flats 9 

Head of Bay 34 

Chesapeake Bay 56 



109 

Page. 

Patapsco Kiver 37 

Severn River 37 

Patuxent River 37-41 

Potomac 41-47 

Rivers in Talbot, Dorchester and Caroline 47 

Rivers in Queen Anne 's and Kent Counties 48 

Licenses required 56 

Poisoning fish 49 

Size of fish 50-54 

Obstructing streams 81 

Fish ladders 51 

Explosives prohibited 51 

Artificial ponds protected 49 

Sale of fish 54 

Threshing fish prohibited 61 

Hatcheries authorized 61 

Trout and other fish 48 

Emptying seine on beach 53 

Catfish and eels 55 

Ferret 18 

Game defined (See "Birds and Game") IS, 20 

Game Wardens and Deputies 20-23 

Appointment 20 

Duties 20-21 

Commiosions 21 

Badges 22 

Dismissal 22 

Search warrants 137-8 

Game Pens 31 

Hook and line fishermen 55 

Gun, size and kind 16, 17 

Gunning Licenses 27-31 

Immunity of Game Wardens 25 

Insectivorous birds 14 

License blanks to be furnished by Comptroller 44, 58 

Licenses for Fish 34, 41, 56 

Fish and Crabs in Potomac 45-46 

Licenses for Hunting . . . • 27-31 



110 

Page. 

Night Gunning 17 

Patapsco. fish ladders 37 

Patuxent River 26, 37 

Seine hauling 37 

Size of mesh 38 

Purse nets prohibited 41 

Obstructions to fishery _, 40 

Pollution of waters prohibited 52 

Possession out of season 13 

Potomac River (See "Concurrent Law") 47. 41 

Shad and herring, season and licenses 44 

Seine hauling 42 

Catching bass 42 

Obstructing fisheries 43 

Further regulations ' 45 

Poultry poisoning prohibited 18 

Purse Nets, northern limit 34 

License required 34 

Menhaden fishing prohibited 35 

Size of mesh 35 

Sale of game or fish condemned 24 

Search Warrants 23 

Seasons for Birds and Game — 

Doves 13 

Deer and elk 27 

Muskrat 26 

Otter 26 

Partridge or quail 11 

Pheasants 11 

Plover 11 

Raccoon 26 

Rabbit 11 

Reedbird and railbird 13 

Snipe 13 

Squirrel 11 

Wild Turkey 11 

Woodcock 11 

Wild Fowl 8 

Search without warrant 23 



Ill 

Page. 
Seasons for Fish — 

Catfish and eels 87 

Sturgeon 56 

Shad and herring in Bay 34 

In Potomac Eiver 44 

Bass, pickerel or pike 50 

Bass in Potomac River 42 

Trout 48-49 

Season for Terrapin 61, 62 

Seasons for Wild Fowl 8 

Brant 8 

Duck 8 

Goose 8 

Swan 8 

Seasons for State listed Inside back cover 

Severn Eiver Fishing 37 

Size, Fish 50, 53, 54 

Terrapin 62 

Size or kind of gun 17, 16 

Songs Birds 14 

State Game Warden (See "Game Warden and 
Deputies"). 

State-wide Hunting License 27-31 

How obtained 28 

To be exhibited 29 

Exemptions 29 

Use of funds '. 30 

Penalty 30 

Disposition of fines 30 

Aliens prohibited 29 

Clerks duties 29 

Exceptions 31 

State Game Protection Fund 5, 17, 12, 15, 19 

State Fishery Force 116 

Duties 116 

Terrapin 61 

Closed season 61 

Eggs 62 

Who may catch 62 



L12 

Page. 

Virginia (See "Concurrent Law," see "Bounday Line"). 

Wild fowl (See "Seasons") *. . . 5-11 

Shooting in flocks 5 

Feeding grounds 5 

Blinds 5 

Arrests 5 

Shooting from boat 6 

Sunday shooting prohibited 9 

Night shooting prohibited 10 

Size of gun 10 



THOMAS & EVANS PRINTING CO. 
BALTIMORE. MD 



LIST OF OPEN SEASONS FOR STATE. 

Birds 1 — Partridge 2 , Quail 2 , Pheasant, * 

Grouse, Turkey, and Woodcock Nov. 10-Dec. 24. 

Snipe 3 Nov. 1-Jan. 31. 

Plover 5 Aug. 15-May 1. 

Reedbird,Railbird,Ricebird, Ortolan. Sept. 1-Nov. 1. 

Doves Aug. 15-Dee. 24. 

Game 1 — Rabbit Nov. 10-Dec. 24. 

a . u iAug. 25-Oct. 1. 

Squirrel* )Nov. 10-Dec. 24. 

Raccoon, Otter and Muskrat Jan. 1-Apr. 1. 

„.,._. j Closed until 

Elk and Deer \ June 1, 1922. 

Wild Fowl 5 - 6 — 

Duck, Goose, Swan and Brant Nov. 1-Mar. 15. 

iShooting birds or game prohibited on Sundays or between sunset 
and sunrise, except as stated in Note 6. 

2Partridge and Quail not to be killed in Frederick County until 
November 10, 1921. Dorchester, November 10 to January 1. 

3Thus fixed by Federal Law. 

4Attorney General's opinion holds open season for squirrels under 
general and local laws to be as follows: Anne Arundel, Calvert, 
Charles, Prince George's and Talbot Counties, November 10 to 
December 24. Allegany County, September 15 to December 24. 
St. Mary's County, open all year round. All other counties, 
August 25 to October 1, and November 10 to December 24. Dor- 
chester, September 1 to January 1. 

6Federal law fixes open season for all wild fowl from November 1- 
January 31, inclusive, and for Plover and Yellow-legs from Aug- 
ust 16 to November 30. Summer or Woodduck season closed un- 
til September 1, 1920. 

ein Cecil and Harford Counties wild fowl on Susquehanna Flats 
may lawfully be killed only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fri- 
days from November 1 to January 1 and on Mondays, "Wednes- 
days, Fridays and Saturdays from January 1 to end of season. 
All days to be reckoned from one hour before sunrise until sun- 
set. Federal law % hour before sunrise until sunset on all 
migratory game. 

LATEST FEDERAL REGULATION. 

(Affecting Maryland, becoming effective Sept. 1, 1918.) 
Regulation 4. Closed Seasons on Certain Game Birds. 
Regulation 4 is amended so as to read as follows: "A 
closed season shall continue until September 1, 1920, on 
the following migratory game birds : Band-tailed pigeons, 
little brown, sandhill, and whooping cranes, wood duck, 
swan, curlews, wUlet, and all sJiorebirds except black-bellied 
and golden plovers, Wilson snipe or jacksnipe, woodcock, 
and the greater and lesser yellowlegs." 



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